Bike-sharing in Penang a success story

(Front row from second right) MBPP secretary Addnan Mohd Razali, Yew, Yeoh and cycling enthusiasts taking a group photo before they start the night ride during the first anniversary of the Penang bicycle-sharing system at Jalan Padang Kota Lama.

HERE is some good news on the environment.

Bike commuters on Penang island who used the bike-sharing system LinkBike last year saved the world of 15,886 litres of petrol.

“That means our bike commuters refrained from adding 19.3 tons of carbon dioxide into the air and took 16,000 cars off the streets during their green commute,” said Fast Rent Bike managing director Ken Yeoh, whose company manages LinkBike.

Based on LinkBike’s first year of the gross rental times and distances between the stations where shared bicycles were taken and then re-docked, Yeoh said the bike commuters travelled an aggregated 148,465km, rode at an average of 15.5km/h, usually took about 17 minutes per trip and pedaled an average distance of 4.39km on each trip.

After 33,806 trips, he said LinkBike has started building a profile of bike commuting habits in Penang, although the picture is not yet perfect.

“Some people rent our LinkBikes all night long. They take it out of one of our docking station and only dock it back the following day. So these are outliers that make it difficult for us to have an accurate picture of bike commuters,” said.

Yeoh shared another piece of good news: not a single LinkBike was vandalised or stolen so far, a sign that the shared bicycles were used respectfully.

He said at the company’s recent first-year anniversary do, 30,197 people from 61 countries had registered as LinkBike users so far.

LinkBike is owned by Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and managed by Fast Rent Bike; 90% of the RM1.85mil startup cost came from MBPP and the rest from the company.

“LinkBike has 25 stations with 300 bike docks and 250 bikes placed around George Town, Gurney Drive, Karpal Singh Drive and Queensbay Mall.

“We are looking at expanding to Bayan Baru, Pulau Tikus and even the Bayan Lepas free industrial zone,” Yeoh said.

City mayor Yew Tung Seang, who led cyclists on a night ride from the Esplanade to the back lane of Magazine Road to kick off the anniversary bash, rejoiced in the absence of vandalism and theft of the bikes.

“We have always wanted to transform the city into a bicycle-friendly state and provide better bike commuting facilities for the people.

“Our 176km of bicycle lanes enable cyclists to commute from Straits Quay to Sungai Ara, and in the future, to Penang International Airport.

“We hope that cycling will eventually become an easy and convenient short-term transportation for last-mile journeys as a means of tackling traffic congestion in George Town,” he said.