Sharing Bicycles in the US: Prospects and the Future

After a year abroad, when I came back from Japan in August 2017, I found that Beijing was full of sharing bicycles. In all major cities in China, there are a large number of sharing bicycle. Those bicycles are very easy to use. One of the most famous company is called OFO, or the “yellow bike”. It is a dock less platform which allows users to park anytime and anywhere. With a smartphone app, users can learn where nearby bicycles are available. People only need to scan the QR code (Quick Response Code) on the bicycle with their smartphone to use. Using these bicycles for 30 minutes only takes 0.5 yen (about ten cent), such cheap prices make it popular quickly. Sharing bicycle solve the “last mile” problems for people who don't have their own cars. From the subway or bus station to their company or school, walking is too far away, and taxi is too expensive. Sharing bicycle perfectly solve this problem. More importantly, sharing bicycle does not produce pollution. It is an environmentally friendly means of transportation. I think sharing bicycles offered great convenience for daily traveling. If the major cities of the United States also have sharing bicycles, it could be helpful for people’s travel. But to implement this project in the US, there are many challenges.

The success behind this concept is the availability of smartphones, high-speed networks, and cashless payments in China. Among these three points, the most critical is cashless payment. For users in other countries, there must be a unified platform for all kinds of smartphones for cashless payments. In China, there are two platforms, Alipay and WeChat, both of them support most smartphones systems including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone systems. In the United States, Apple’s Apple Pay is similar to Alipay and WeChat. However, Apple Pay only supports Apple’s devices such as iPhone. Although Android system has Android Pay, but not all mobile phones support this function. Only smartphones with near-field communication (NFC) function can achieve mobile payment. But NFC is not a standard function like camera or Bluetooth for smartphones. In contrast, WeChat and Alipay are using camera to scan the QR code to pay. This allows almost all smartphone users to use mobile payments. Other apps that support all devices such as PayPal, does not have a mobile payment function.

Consumption habits is another reason that hinders the development of mobile payments in the United States. From fancy clothing stores to street food vendors, most shops support scan QR code for mobile payment in China. People are happy to use mobile payments, and many people don't even carry their wallets when going out. Smartphones are enough for most cases. In the US, cash and credit card are the two most popular payment methods. People are not accustomed to using mobile payments, and most businesses do not support mobile payments. But in the US, the payment market has matured, which makes it difficult to implement new payment methods.

In the US, Seattle became one of the first cities in which several sharing bicycle companies deployed their bicycles. Sharing bicycles of different colors have appeared in Seattle. Companies operating here include Limebike, Spin, and OFO. Seattle has becoming the first stop of those sharing bicycle company in the US because local government’s policy support is the key. At the end of March 2017, the Seattle government run sharing bicycle with hubs project Pronto was officially closed. After the failure of its own efforts, the Seattle government welcomed the sharing bicycle companies, and Seattle became the first government to issue licenses to dock less sharing bicycle companies. In order to comply with the law, sharing bicycle companies will provide some free helmets, smartphone apps will also remind users to wear helmets. For bicycle lanes and other traffic problems, shared bike companies are working closely with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to provide assistance to municipal transportation planning through their data. In June 30th, SDOT released regulations for shared bicycles. Including safety standards, insurance rules, parking regulations and so on.

Seattle is the first city in the United States to enact regulations on shared bicycles and is likely to become a model for many cities in the United States and many other parts of the world. Currently operating three sharing bicycle companies in Seattle are all dock less funded by venture capital companies. With smartphone apps and GPS positioning and other similar functions. Competition is unavoidable. In the case of similar function, the competition is probably about price and customer service. Because the sharing bicycle has just started in the United States, the current size of the market is limited. The competition is not intense yet. However, when sharing bicycles enter other major cities, it is foreseeable that there will be a new round of business competition in the US market in the future.