Southwest China city halts plague of 'shared' bikes

CHENGDU - Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, has joined other cities in refusing to allow any more so-called shared bikes on the streets.

Chengdu has far too many of these bikes already, causing parking chaos and obstructing crowded areas such as bus and subway stations, according to Chengdu Municipal Commission of Transport.

The city has designated more than 1,000 parking zones for the bikes, with more planned.

Nie Bin, chief engineer with the commission, said Chengdu experiment with electronic fences and multi-storey bike parking before the end of this year.

In the meantime, a supervisory platform will ensure real-time data helps operators put their bikes where they are most needed.

"By analyzing travel data, the government can improve the public transport network," said Nie.

China now has around 70 bike-sharing brands, with more than 16 million bicycles on the streets nationwide and 130 million users, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

Cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan have already put the brakes on the scheme.