Taichung City Government has proactively promoted iBike rental service as “last mile” of transportation. Since its inception, the system has proven to be extremely popular among the public and in this summer, the number of bikes rented is expected to exceed the 10 million mark. According to Transportation Bureau of Taichung City Government, efforts are constantly being taken to make iBike service more inclusive. With the advent of IoT and smart phones, “Bike Share” offering “borrow and return anywhere service” has been successfully implemented in numerous international cities, therefore Transportation Bureau has begun studying related measures, hoping to engage private manufacturers voluntarily in order to offer more diverse, convenient bike rental service.

Starting from April 2014, operation of Taichung City’s iBike public bike rental system has been commissioned to YouBike Co., Ltd. for a budget over a period of 7 years. Currently into its 4th year in service, 213 rental stations have been established for iBike as of April this year, providing 6,360 bicycles to the public. So far, the number of bikes rented has accumulated to 9,363,721, and the figure is expected to exceed 10 million by this summer.

At present, the majority of Taichung’s iBike rental stations are allocated in the vicinity of government buildings, schools, parks, Park Lane and public transport stations, covering CBD regions extending from Taichung Station to Taiwan Boulevard Civic Center. Furthermore, the system also connects to regions including Taiping, Dali, Wufeng, Wuri, Fengyuan, Dajia, Beitun, Tanzi and Qingshui. This year, it is expected to expand the existing network to join important transport nodes such as Taichung Metro Green Line, Taichung Overpass and Cycling Center Taichung with the city’s bike path network, so as to optimize the reach of iBike across various districts and the coastal region.

In addition to iBike, Transportation bureau is also studying the feasibility of another bike rental service called “Bike Share”. With the advent of IoT and smart phones, station-free (no docking station) bicycle rental systems have emerged in Germany and China. Bicycles equipped with GPS are combined with cell phone app, where the user must first register using their real name, an electronic payment account and pay a deposit before they can rent a bicycle.

In order to rent a bicycle, simply use the GPS on your cell phone or mobile device to locate one. Alternatively, you can make reservation advance or randomly pick a bicycle by the roadside and scan it using the cell phone app to unlock and rent the bike. After you are done using the bicycle, simply park it by the roadside; in other words, you can borrow and return the bicycle anywhere, making the system extremely convenient.

However, “Bike Share” currently in operation worldwide still has numerous obstacles to overcome, such as obstructing traffic due to the lack of fixed parking locations, lack of qualified inspection mechanism for the bicycles, poor positioning accuracy and difficulty of management etc. Furthermore, the app’s personal information security is also a concern that must be ironed out.

Transportation Bureau indicates that aspects of “Bike Share” including overall systems management, equipment maintenance and safety are currently being analyzed. At the same time, development experiences in other countries will be borrowed to formulate relevant regulations. It is hoped that the private sector will participate in the program voluntarily in order to develop a suitable “Bike Share” system for Taichung City. Moreover, its management will be included under the iBike system so that the citizens will be encouraged to make more use of iBike and minimize riding motorcycles or driving.