[Courtesy of Seoul City]
As of January 2023, there were some 43,500 Seoul Bikes in the capital city. The cumulative number of rental service members has exceeded 3.7 million. According to data released by Seoul City, the public rental service was used more than 100 million times as of April 25, 2022. A survey conducted by Seoul showed that 96.9 percent of users were satisfied with Ttareungi in 2021. Some 36.3 percent of Seoulites used the bike service to commute and 26.8 percent of the riders used it for leisure activities.
Anyone aged over 13 can rent a Ttareungi for 1,000 won ($0.76). The bikes can be easily rented just by entering the password or through QR code-based verification method at designated stations. Regular bikes weigh about 18 kilograms (40 pounds) and small-sized Seoul Bikes weigh 16 kilograms. The rental service offers discount benefits for users with season tickets.
The Seoul Facilities Corporation said in a statement that 75 repair shops for Ttareungi will be selected between February 28 and March 7. Anyone with more than three years of experience in operating a repair store can apply for the position. The capital city's facility management wing will verify applicants' maintenance capabilities and whether their shops have enough space for storage and repair. Selected bicycle repairmen will be in charge of the public bikes' maintenance from March 21 to the end of November.
Ttareungi service was launched after benchmarking "BIXI Montréal," the first public bike rental service in North America. The Canadian bike-sharing system that began in Montreal in 2009 was later adopted in New York, London, and Toronto. After reviewing many different bike-sharing services, Seoul has demonstrated various public bike rental services since 2010.
reporter
Kim Joo-heon
jhkim123@ajunews.com
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