Share and Share Alike

11/04/2017

barrysays

The bike sharing phenomenon rising across China has illustrated the power of new technology to effectively address long standing transport problems. As China’s lack of a regulated environment, willingness to pioneer new innovation and tolerant society make it the perfect base for large scale change, the resulting temporary chaos can deemed acceptable as cities become real life testbeds to an urban transport revolution. 

Salon: ​Public Bikes, Problem or Solution?
News: Mobike Wheeled Out in Shenzhen
Barry Says: Wars of the Road
​​Barry Says: Change Is Coming...Too Fast Or Not Fast Enough?
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IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

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Pavements of colour. But street space is at a premium and not all city streets are able to accommodate so many bikes. Image: BWPI

​This Christmas. Like a snowfall silently carpeting the ground through our slumbers, I awoke to a fresh blanket of sparkling silver and orange paint across the footpaths. As if scattered from Santa’s sleigh, the gifts had arrived. The bicycles were here, thousands upon thousands of them, and everybody could have one. ​Mobike was first off the mark.

​Within a week bright yellow and black had joined the palette as ofo bikes spontaneously emerged. Next dark blue, then light, multiplying on street corners, outside metro exits and shopping centres, amoeba like, first two, then four, suddenly hundreds. The popularity was instant. A quick scan on the phone and off you go, leaving the bike anywhere for someone else to use later.

​The initial minimal charges later turned to nothing at all, as the competing businesses cranked up the numbers to gain market dominance. China’s great urban transport solution of the past was back, and it was winning converts every day as people shuttled from home to the bus stop or from metro to work.

It wasn’t me! Image: BWPI

​They just kept coming. More and more bikes; less and less space. The gifts now became pests, blocking pavements and eating away at the public realm. Instead of being used with care and consideration, distain crept in. Bikes were discarded randomly, anywhere, anyhow, without a thought for the needs of others. The breakages increased, bikes lay neglected across the city for weeks like butterflies with broken wings.  

​Then the big day. The first holiday weekend of the year, 2nd April, the weather is perfect and a crowd of 300,000 flocks to Shenzhen Bay Park. But this time they go by bike, 10,000 share-bikes randomly parked, ended up completely blocking miles and miles of the coastal path. By Monday 3rd there was chaos; A first bike traffic jam.

Qing Ming holiday brought crowds, plus their bikes, to the beach at the 13km long Shenzhen Bay Park. The longest bike-jam in history? Image: BWPI

HOW MANY BIKES DOES A CITY NEED? 

Change in Bicycle Ownership Image: A Shrinking Path for Bicycles- Wang Qiuning

So far it is estimated that there are at least 320,000 new share-bikes in Shenzhen urban area, representing about 2.8 bikes for every 100 people, on top of around 200,000 public bikes utilising fixed docking stations. About 2.5 million trips are taken every day on average. [1] Compare that with 1996, when bicycle use soared to peak levels in China with ownership of 523 million bicycles, averaging 42.7 for every 100 people, or 1.5 bicycles per household. [2] Clearly then there is some way to go until the streets of China feel saturated by bicycles once again. Or is there? 

Solid core tyres of Mobike mean punctures just don’t happen. Image: BWPI

​Each fleet of bikes is custom-produced to suit the city and climate where it will be introduced.

In Beijing, for example, the bikes use cold-resistant batteries, and tires with deeper tread to provide a better grip on icy roads in winter.

Bikes in Wuxi, a rain-prone city in eastern China, have extended mud guards on both front and rear tires to protect riders from splashback.

Another puncture on an ofo bike. They are far cheaper to fabricate than Mobike and as such are frequently abandoned on the street with multiple failures, often for weeks on end Image: BWPI

​At that time, China was a very different place from today with two key factors in play. In 1994 China initiated the National Automobile Industry Development Policy which encouraged massive production and consumption of private cars. In conjunction came urban renewal and redevelopment, providing new streets designed for cars not bikes. The traditional tight street patterns of urban centres, perfect for bicycles, was increasingly replaced by wide highways and streams of fast moving vehicles. Bicycles, only recently newly affordable were now jettisoned for the next horizon of wealth.

Today's new urban centres in China are designed not for bikes or pedestrians but almost exclusively for the movement of cars. Such investment has revealed its deficiency as short term thinking. The end of the age of the private motor car is already nigh, with cities around the world spurning their inclusion and looking to renew their centres as pedestrian friendly, public transport activated, clean, safe communities, free of traffic. China has turned up much too late for the party, planning city streets that were out of date before they were even constructed. But the irregular spaces and alleyways of traditional cities, suitable for bicycles and walking have disappeared and the urban realm has become bland, with little space available to park bikes on pavements.

Bespoke! ofo bikes have been commandeered by many as their personal bikes. Once you have the code its yours for life…or at least until someone else wants to use it. Best to deter that! Image: BWPI

​​What may be compounding the problem is a lack of collective ownership and civic behaviour, resulting in part perhaps from the recent mass migration of the population into the cities. For so many the city is not their home, just a temporary place to work. To promote civilised behaviour, the People’s Congress of Shenzhen passed a law, “Regulations for the Promotion of Civilised Behaviour” that punishes inappropriate conduct such as spitting, smoking or allowing pets to defecate in public places and is the first attempt by a Chinese city to promote civic behaviour through legislation. Transgressors face fines or the need to do community service whilst repeat offences are noted in the national ‘personal credit system’ , with consequences such as a diminished likelihood of getting a home loan or obtaining a credit card.   

Finally the ofo maintenance crew arrive Image: BWPI

​​This stick approach is backed up through the carrot of noble civic deeds being be recorded in a person’s ‘civilised behaviour archives’, entitling them to benefits including cash rewards and priority in receiving blood transfusions. The city’s urban law enforcement bureau, has officers called ‘chengguan’, who are responsible for enforcing the civility law with assistance from the police.[1]

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Classic features have attracted many of Mobike's customers, such as its easy-to-use V-shaped frame, dust-proof paint, airless tires and magnesium alloy wheels.

Image: thechinastory.org

​​One wonders if use of public bikes might become included in the regulation system. Shenzhen government just issued a document outlining advice and regulations to try to support the healthy development of the market and provide infrastructure support. It stated that the number of share-bikes should not exceed the city's occupancy and load capacity but provides no figures as to what those limits should be, suggesting that the industry must share information with local traffic management and police departments on the number of registered users, the number of bikes on the road and their distribution and how frequently they are used. This seems to put the onus on the companies to regulate themselves, something that only Mobike seems set out to achieve.

Residential properties have trouble managing parking space at their properties. But they don’t do this to the cars! Image: BWPI

​​​The Mobike model includes for self-policing, whereby on the app platform users are encouraged to report incidences of parking in prohibited zones or damaging the bikes. Their system deducts credit points from offenders - lower credit ratings mean more expensive rides for users - while rewarding those who abide by the rules or whistleblow.

​Already newly formed “wechat” communities of night time “hunters” have sprung up nationwide, who aim to "rescue" "zombie bikes". They search for broken or illegally parked bikes as well as those locked for private use. Their actions are voluntary, a hobby they share with others, and they are not hired by any of the bike sharing startups. Social media is rapidly able to shape intense debate about acceptable forms of civic behaviour. The urban changes happening are without specific precedent and whilst there are typically no rules or guidelines currently governing how to manage the new bike-sharing domain, they can be expected to follow rapidly, as both behaviour is modified and localised restrictions are introduced, as is happening in other breakthrough industries.

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“Hunters” search, take photos, report problems and move bikes. In 3 hours walking they might perhaps rescue "rescue” 200 bikes. Image: China Daily

Jiang Yuxiang, 35, a bicycle hunter in Shenzhen, manages to devote at least one hour a day to hunting down illegally parking bicycles.  "The hunting atmosphere in Guangdong is quite hot. Maybe this is because we have long been influenced by police and gangster movies made in Hong Kong," 
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PREPARING FOR A NEW TOMORROW
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Continual development and refinement. New versions from Mobike have a solar panel in the rack Image: BWPI

Are powered versions next in the shared-bike production line Image: BWPI

Bike-sharing is just a start of the urban transformation coming out of the smart city revolution and the behavioural and management lessons will be invaluable in the coming months as further transport developments are introduced. The popularity of the bike-share is that it is equitable, affording all levels of society to share the public realm, and is not just geared towards the wealthy as is the case of the private vehicle. Whilst it has undoubtedly been extremely popular with the working classes, in their mass travels to new construction sites, and factories, it has also been well taken up by the new middle class in aiding their white collar commuting and short urban leisure trips.

We can expect the next iterations to solve problems such as rain and sun protection, allow space for luggage carriage, be electric powered and become self-informed; essentially the driverless vehicle. This is where the true value of autonomous vehicles is really going to change our cities. Simply put, public urban conveyors ‘PUC’ are on the way.

​Big data information being learned by the bike sharing platform will be invaluable in transitioning to the next stage, but even more so will be the civic infrastructure being developed in terms of managing public space, generating acceptable usage behaviour and discarding the concept of ownership being paramount. Expect the new bike sharing companies to be at the forefront of the urban transport transformation. 

The next generation of public urban conveyors will need to be powered, have luggage space and keep out the elements. Image: BWPI

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Barry Wilson is a Landscape Architect, urbanist and university lecturer. His practice, Barry Wilson Project Initiatives, has been tackling urbanisation issues in Hong Kong and China for over 20 years. (www.initiatives.com.hk). ​

2017/03/08
A Bridge Too Far?

2016/12/07
No Stopping Rapid Change

​2016/10/27
Wars of the Road

2016/08/26
When Fantasy Becomes Reality

Mobike users start with 100 credit points. Every ride they make earns them a point. Reporting a bike that is damaged or improperly parked earns them a point too.

On the other hand, those who park Mobikes in a compound are slapped with a 20-point penalty. Riders who use their private locks on the bikes have their credit reduced to zero immediately, which results in their accounts being frozen.

China Bike Sharing Report Images: China Channel

Reference:
[1] http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-04/07/content_28836125.htm
[2] 
China Statistics Yearbooks
[3] 
https://www.thechinastory.org/yearbooks/yearbook-2013/chapter-5-building-civilised-cities/shenzhens-civility-law/