In a sea of colorful competitors, how do you set your bike-sharing company apart? One answer: install devices that let customers charge their phones while riding.
Yesterday afternoon getb bikes made their Shenzhen debut when a 'trial batch' was placed in Jingu Square, Futian District. Previously the bikes had been available in Beijing, London and Zhuhai, and the company plans to expand their reach to 12 cities by the end of the year. Getb's Chinese name literally translates to 'orange bike,' and at first glance they bear a strong resemblance to bike-sharing heavyweight Mobike.
There's one big difference, though. Besides standard features like QR codes and a basket, getb bicycles feature a solar-powered phone charger/dock attached to the handlebars.
This allows riders to mount their phones in front of them while riding, and possibly even check their texts as they cruise through the city. While it may not seem like the safest idea, it's certainly convenient.
Using getb requires an initial RMB99 deposit, and charges one yuan an hour. If you've signed up on a bike-sharing app before, you shouldn't have any problems getting started with getb. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, see below for a quick rundown of how it works:
Depending on their luck, Shenzhen riders may have to wait for their chance to try the getb bikes. When we arrived at Jingu Square in the late morning on March 14, not a single getb bike was to be seen. We can only assume that they were snatched up by avid bikers shortly after being released.
A bike-free Jingu Square
Bike-sharing has, of course, made a huge impact on the urban landscape of major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The bike-sharing trend has also encountered its fair share of obstacles.
City authorities have been known to confiscate thousands of bikes at a time to combat disorderliness, and the storage of bikes in public spaces has left them open to vandalism or worse.
A marketing director for getb, Jin Xuping, estimated that there will be 3,000-5,000 getb bikes in Shenzhen by the end of the month if demand is high and all goes well. Here's to hoping it does.
[Images via Shenzhen Evening News, getb]
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