Do you love biking but cannot afford a bicycle of your own? Or, is it that you have nowhere to store a bicycle and therefore have decided not to buy one? Well, the Taipei City Government has solved this problem for you.
To create a better and greener life in Taipei City, the government has partnered with bike company Giant to set up “YouBike”, a public commuter bicycle rental system. This bicycle rental system began a test phase in the Xinyi area in March. There are plans to expand to the Gongguan, Yuanshan, and Jiantan areas in the future.
Renting a bicycle using the YouBike system is simple. The Taipei City Government combines YouBike rental systems with Google Mapping. You can just go to the Website to search for the bike stops. The Website also shows how many bikes are available for rental at a particular stop.
You can use the EasyCards issues by the Taipei metro or a credit card to rent the bicycles. Additionally, a bicycle can be rented at or returned to any stop along the bicycle trail.
You can use your EasyCard to pay for bicycle rental as well as bus and metro fares. The credit card is to ensure that the bicycle is returned.
The basic price for a bike is NT$40 dollars for less than 30 minutes rental. After 30 minutes, every 15 minutes costs NT$10 dollars. You can rent bicycles for five days, a month, half year and a year.
“If there are no stolen bicycles, we will consider canceling the credit card program. People can rent the bike easily,” said the Taipei City Government.
The bikes have been specially designed to prevent rusting and to prevent ladies’ skirts from becoming caught in the wheels. Moreover, the Taipei government uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to maximize the efficiency of the rental system effectively.
The Taipei City Government hopes more people will use this rental system, not only for exercising but also to make the city greener.
Reference: News Taiwan Net You Bike Official website Mook Cardu Metro Taipei
