Chinese city launches intelligent parking system for dockless bike-sharing

The city of Chengdu in west China's Sichuan Province has launched an intelligent parking system for dockless bike-sharing, to better manage the bikes in public spaces.

The pavilion of the parking system covers 6.8 square meters of ground, which is connected with a 9.6-meter deep underground parking space of 50 square meters. The vertical underground parking facility is able to accommodate 224 bikes.

The amount of bikes usually takes over 300 square meters parking space.

The municipal traffic commission said the new system installed near a downtown entrance of the city's No. 2 metro line will be put into service by the end of the month.

Users only need to click on an LED screen to order the system to send a bike automatically, which takes less than a minute.

The system was developed by Tianjin Yuanzhuo Tech Development Co. Ltd. Chengdu, with 1.45 million shared bikes on the streets, the first Chinese city to pilot the system.

Popular bike-sharing has caused problems such as traffic jams, parking difficulties and vandalism, as well as challenges for urban management in Chinese cities. Many cities have regulated the service. In May, Beijing and Hangzhou unveiled new rules requiring incumbent bike-sharing companies, including Mobike and Ofo, to phase out old bikes.

The Chengdu traffic commission said further orders on the system depended on the public response to bike-sharing parking.

Xie Haiping, chair of the developing firm, believes the system caters to the demand for urban management of bikes.