Sure, shared bikes are great (except when they’re clogging alleyways, parks or anywhere for that matter), but they certainly lose a bit of their appeal when it’s raining, or when you need to cross three districts to get home. Enter the shared car.
Yeah, we’ve written about them before, but today’s big news is that 20,000 shared automobiles are expected to be cruising Guangzhou streets by the end of 2018 – a major jump from the 4,158 shared cars in the city as of the end of July.
Similar to bike-sharing, car-sharing requires users to download an app, sign up with a valid driver’s license and pay a deposit, generally in the range of RMB500-1,500.
Car-sharing company Gofun, which is headquartered in Beijing, currently has vehicles spread across Tianhe, Haizhu and Baiyun districts in Guangzhou. Other companies based in the city include Car2Share and Togo.
According to eguangzhou.gov.cn, Gofun has begun to implement facial recognition technology in their cars to ensure the driver matches the ID and license registered to the account renting the car. The company is also working on a credit scheme, based on drivers’ behavior and potentially dangerous actions, to supersede the current deposit system.
Earlier this month, a strategy was announced by the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to help promote the development of the car-sharing industry. Said policy also directs companies to check the ID and license of drivers and document the information in the vehicle-rental agreement.
What are your thoughts on Guangzhou’s budding car-sharing industry? Sound off in the comments section below.
READ MORE: 5 Car-Sharing Options Available in China
[Images via xkb.com.cn h/t eguangzhou.gov.cn]
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