Beijing to rent out 50,000 bicycles

To help curb pollution and ease traffic congestion for the Olympic Games, Beijing will make 50,000 brand new bicycles available for rent across the city.

Under the rent-a-bike program by the Beijing Bicycle Rental Services, the bikes will be available at 230 outlets near subway stations, commercial districts, Olympic venues, hotels and office buildings as well as in big communities.

The company's website says that they have put about 5,000 bikes for rent at franchise outlets near the Beijing Workers Stadium, the Drum Tower, the Forbidden City and the Xidan commercial district.

The network will be expanded to include major communities and Olympic venues, Wang Yong, general manager of the company, told Xinhua. Wang said that franchisees who can provide an area of about 1 parking space are welcome to join their network for free.

Beijing Bicycle Rental Services would provide all the bikes for free, and franchise outlets would get 1 yuan a day for each bike they operate as running costs. A profit-sharing scheme at the end of each month based on each outlet's income will also be implemented, although Wang warned that not all outlets could make a profit.

The bicycle renting program is also sponsored by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau as well as the anti-theft arm of the municipal public security bureau because bicycles are frequently stolen in Beijing.