It is expected that in December, districts of Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Hai Ba Trung, Dong Da, Tay Ho and Thanh Xuan will be able to pilot bicycle rental services.

The Hanoi Department of Transport has just proposed the Hanoi People’s Committee to allow Tri Nam Group Joint Stock Company to pilot a bicycle service in some districts for 12 months. According to the proposal, the enterprise will deploy phase 1 with 500 electric bicycles, 500 ordinary bicycles, with a total investment of about VND 30 billion.

Six pilot districts in phase 1 include: Ba Dinh is expected to have 340 vehicles, Tay Ho 240, Dong Da 100, Hoan Kiem 280, the rest are Thanh Xuan and Hai Ba Trung. The cost for each 30-minute turn is 5,000 VND for regular bicycles, 10,000 VND for electric bicycles; bicycle rental fee for the whole day with two types of bicycles is 60,000 and 120,000 VND respectively.

Businesses also have monthly, quarterly, and annual tickets, payment by banking applications or e-wallets. People can use the service through software on smartphones: Unlock the bicycle by scanning the QR code, find the station and book the bicycle through the application …

In the first year of the pilot, businesses apply for free sidewalks and charge service fees. In the next stage, based on actual operation data, enterprises will coordinate with relevant departments, agencies and sectors to synthesize results as a basis for reporting and proposing to the City People’s Committee.

Mr. Do Ba Dan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tri Nam Group Joint Stock Company, said that if the sidewalks are not free, the price of bicycle rental services will be higher, affecting people’s ability to pay. The bicycle rental fee is being applied by the company to all cities (HCMC, Vung Tau, Quy Nhon). “After the pilot period in Ho Chi Minh City, I found that people and tourists were very excited to participate,” Mr. Dan said.

Before that in 2016, Bach Khoa Technology Development and Investment Co., Ltd. piloted the rental of bicycles and electric bicycles with solar energy in Hanoi, but then failed to maintain.

In early 2020, the city advocated pilot investment in an e-bike system using management software in Hoan Kiem district. Total project investment is over 26 billion VND by investor capital. It is expected that the pilot will be implemented in 2020 with a test period of 18 months. The toll rate is 20,000 VND an hour for the first hour (calculating the time the bicycle runs), or 200,000 VND a day.

The investor proposed that the city support a number of locations for battery charging stations, such as: Phung Hung flower garden – Bat Dan; Phung Hung mural street; Tay Son flower garden; Le Thai To – Hang Trong; Hanoi library; the Opera House flower garden; Chuong Duong bridge roundabout. However, the project has not been implemented so far.

Source: vnexpress.net