Chiayi County Mayor Weng Zhangliang (middle in the front row) rides a YouBike with Xingang Township Mayor Ye Menglong, Smile Bicycle Company representatives and others. (Photo by reporter Wang Shanyan)
Chiayi County will introduce the YouBike 2.0 public bicycle system in 2024, and the service scope will be expanded to 16 towns and cities. The cumulative number of rides this month will exceed 2 million. In order to encourage people to use it, the Chiayi County Government has launched the "Jiabei Ride" lottery. From now until November 5, as long as you become a Smile Bike member, rent a bicycle at a Chiayi County station and complete the loan and return process, you will get a lottery opportunity for every 5 rides, and the maximum prize is a 5,000 yuan store gift certificate.
The county government held a press conference in front of the Xingang Township Office today. County Mayor Weng Zhangliang, Xingang Township Mayor Ye Menglong and several county councilors jointly unveiled the 11 additional township and city YouBike stations.
Weng Zhangliang said that after promoting YouBike, the transportation convenience and living environment in the county have gradually improved. However, Smile Bike is not a public welfare organization. The county government will continue to conduct regular reviews with township and city offices based on the usage rate of each station. If the usage rate is low, the number of bicycle columns will be reduced first. If the demand continues to decline, the station will not be ruled out and resources will be moved to areas with higher demand to improve overall operational efficiency.
He pointed out that the bicycle riding environment in Chiayi County still needs to be improved. At present, three major rezoning areas have been planned to optimize street trees and other measures: the Chiayi High Speed Rail Station Specific Area, the Chiayi County Special Administrative Region and the expanded county redistricting area. In the future, the regional road network will be gradually connected to increase the use of bicycles as daily transportation. The county government will continue to provide subsidies for the first 30 minutes of riding. After the subsidy, YouBike 2.0 is free for the first 30 minutes, and YouBike 2.0E only costs 10 yuan for the first 30 minutes.
Smile Bicycle Company stated that Chiayi County has currently set up 188 YouBike 2.0 stations and invested 1,550 bicycles. In the future, it will continue to conduct site surveys with the county government and various township and city offices. It is expected to complete 240 stations and invest 1,800 bicycles by the first quarter of 2027.
The County Government's Construction Department explained that during the "Jiabei Ride" event, people who rent YouBike at Chiayi County stations will be eligible for the lottery only if it takes more than 5 minutes to borrow at the same station or more than 1 minute to borrow at another station. You will get one lucky draw opportunity for every 5 rides, and each membership card can only win once. In addition to 5,000 yuan gift certificates, there are also outdoor products and sports bags as prizes.
YouBike sites in Chiayi County have expanded to 16 towns and cities, and 11 more towns and cities are now fully operational. (Photo by reporter Wang Shanyan)
