TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Pingtung County Government will introduce the public bicycle rental system YouBike 2.0 to the county in 2023.
The county government on Tuesday (Nov. 15) signed a seven-year contract with YouBike Co., which will assume sole responsibility for its own profits or losses, according to a press release.
YouBike Co. will install 130 docking stations, 2,700 bike docks, and 1,200 new bikes, which include 300 e-bikes (YouBike2.0E) in Pingtung City, Chaozhou Township, Donggang Township, and Hengchun Township within one year of the contract being signed, according to the release.
Pbike, the current public bike rental system in the county, has been in operation for more than eight years, but its equipment has proved increasingly unreliable, so the introduction of the YouBike system will enhance the quality of public bike rental services in the county, per the release.
The initial installation locations of the YouBike 2.0 system will be implemented around Pbike locations, and the new system is estimated to begin operations six months after the contract signing. As neighboring Kaohsiung City also uses the YouBike 2.0 system, renting and returning bikes between Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City can be handled smoothly without any additional cost.
YouBike 2.0 rates are NT$12 per 30 minutes within the first four hours, NT$24 per 30 minutes within four to eight hours, NT$48 per 30 minutes over eight hours. YouBike 2.0E costs NT$20 per 30 minutes for the first two hours, and NT$40 per 30 minutes from the third hour.
In order to encourage people to ride more in the initial stages of operation, before the end of 2023, YouBike 2.0 rentals will be free for the first 30 minutes, and YouBike 2.0E rentals will be half-price for the first 30 minutes, per the release.