A member of the public rents a YouBike 2.0 in this CNA photo.
Taoyuan, March 15 (CNA) Taoyuan expects to add 100 YouBike stations in the city by the end of 2024 as part of a long-term expansion of the bike rental system, Department of Transportation Director-general Chang Hsin-fu (張新福) said Thursday.
That will bring the total number of YouBike stations across Taoyuan to 517, Chang said at an administrative meeting Thursday, during which he reported on the planning of additional YouBike stations and the phasing out of the YouBike 1.0 system in Taoyuan.
In addition to adding another 100 stations by the end of 2024, Taoyuan wants its YouBike network to have 750 stations by the end of 2028, Chang said.
Taoyuan currently has 10,645 YouBikes, and there is a system in place at busy stations during peak hours that has workers available to replace bikes and free up parking slots in a timely manner, he said.
At the meeting, Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng (張善政) asked the department and the city's Department of Tourism to work together to enhance YouBike coverage at the city's tourist hotspots while phasing out the YouBike 1.0 system by October 2024.
Under the upgraded YouBike 2.0 system, a solar-powered control panel is mounted on each bicycle that can be used to directly rent a vehicle by scanning a QRcode, and each dock will accommodate only one bicycle instead of two.
The YouBike 1.0 system required users to rent the bike through a kiosk near the parking dock, or by swiping an Easycard over the sensor zone at the dock, and the docks accommodated two bicycles rather than one, a less energy-efficient arrangement, according to the system's manufacturer.
The locking system has also changed. Renters of 1.0 bikes have to keep the key when temporarily parking the bike on the side of the road, while for 2.0 bike users, the experience is keyless.
The new 2.0 system allows users to lock and unlock the bikes with an attached cylindrical key that users gain access to with an Easycard or by scanning the QRcode on the control panel.
These changes seem to be boosting usage, Chang Hsin-fu said. YouBike 2.0 bicycles that are already in service are being used around five to six times every day, compared to two to 2.5 times a day for YouBike 1.0 vehicles.
The electric-assisted YouBike 2.0E, launched on Feb. 1 in Taoyuan, has the highest daily usage of all three types of bikes at seven to 10 times, he said.
According to the Department of Transportation, Taoyuan started transiting from the 1.0 to the 2.0 version of the system in November 2023.
The first phase of the transition was completed at all 417 stations on Jan. 19, meaning that users are able to rent YouBike 2.0 vehicles while also having the option to use the 1.0 bikes.
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