Toutunhe district to add public bicycle stations

By Li Xiaoxu ( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2015-12-16

Toutunhe district, Urumqi city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has 30 public bicycle stations with 600 bicycles, and the number of stations is expected to increase to 50, according to the white paper on Urumqi transportation development.

Toutunhe took the lead in building a public bicycle rental system in Urumqi in September, 2014. The district has invested 9.8 million yuan ($1.5million) in constructing bicycle sites in school, hospital, and residential areas.

The government's commitment has benefited the locals. Liu Ziqiang, who lives in the Toutunhe district, says that the public bicycle service has provided one more means of transportation. "Riding public bikes not only helps me save money to buy one, but also helps me get exercise and protects the environment," said Liu.

According to Yin Xiaopeng, who is in charge of the Toutunhe public bicycle project, the district has given out more than one thousand bicycle cards and the public bikes are used more than five thousand times every month.

Edited by Peter Nordlinger