Beijing to use e-fences to tackle haphazard shared-bike parking

BEIJING - Around 300 virtual fences have been planned in Beijing's Tongzhou district to operate as parking lots for shared bikes, after badly parked bikes have caused complaints.

"These e-fences with special marks both on the ground and in mobile app maps are located near residential communities, schools, subway stations, bus stops and commercial blocks, for the convenience of bike renters," said an official with the district government.

Shared bicycles will be equipped with dual positioning systems, Beidou and GPS, so that they can be tracked if not properly parked, according to the official.

A user will receive a text message if they fail to park a bike at a designated spot and those who park properly will be awarded two points of credit with future discount or coupons likely.

The first batch, around 2,000 shared bicycles provided by the startup Ofo, will start at the end of June, he said.

There were 18.9 million users of shared bicycles nationwide at the end of 2016. The number is expected to hit 50 million by the end of this year, according to the China E-Commerce Research Center.

However, haphazard parking has caused problems, blocking traffic and tarnishing the image of a number of cities.