Should the city offer a bike sharing program?
Ivy Teng
English Composition
Professor Yeh
13 May 2015
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Outline
THESIS: To greatly pay attention to their own health, carbon emission and tourism economy, the cities of every country should have public bike sharing program to improve the city and people’s life become better.
I. To make people become healthier by riding the bike during our daily life.
a. Riding bike with friends to keep in touch and exercise.
b. Save money of fitness for working out at outside.
II. To increase tourism economy of the city by an environmental protection way.
a. To set the bike borrow machine in every place at the city.
b. Making some preference for tourism
III. To decrease the carbon emission by bike during our daily life.
a. Using more public transportation and safe more fuel resources.
b. Riding bike to slow down the greenhouse effect.
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Should the city offer a bike sharing program?
“Bike sharing” has been a famous means of transport in a lot of countries for a while. In 31st December, 2013, the first Ubike stop started to serve people in New Taipei City; but few years later, Ubike Company brought this bike sharing system to Taipei City, Taichung City and Changhwa City. The riding time is 2,243,688 times now (Ubike official website). However, in South of Taiwan, Kaohsiung also has bike sharing system which is called City Bike, which has now 13,000 people users per month (City Bike official website). In order to green the city, those cities advocated using little money to get the location they want by setting up the bike sharing spots, which could help urban areas to lower traffic and pollution, to promote the quality of city and to increase the number of tourists by a convenient, cheap, safe and healthy transportation. Visitors can purchase short-term subscriptions at bike stations themselves. For example, people walk up to a station’s electronic kiosk, choose a bike which you are going to rent, and swipe your credit card or city passing card. They will have ninety second to press the unlocking button which then they can use the bike. Especially, the first hour will be free and later every
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thirty minutes will cost ten NTD. Later on, when they reach their destination, find a nearby station and return the bike by pushing it into the lock, then they will have to put their credit card or city passing card on the machine again to reckon the price.
Therefore, to greatly pay attention to their own health, carbon emission and tourism economy, the cities of every country should have public bike sharing program to improve the city and people’s life become better.
To make people become healthier by riding the bike during our daily life.
Since 2013, Taiwanese has started the “Sports Fashion” by join joining in fitness center or outside exercise (Wang) (reference needed). However, there is a new fashion which is “Bike sharing”; they set up the bike kiosks in many different place, which people mostly will go. So people could rent it wherever they want it to. Instead of paying that much money to have air conditioner and comfortable facility, I recommend that using the city bike more, it could make them walk out to look around the city and enjoy the fresh air, beautiful sunlight and natural scenic.
Riding the bike could get over the heart disease, which by leg movement to compress the blood circulating and strengthen the microvascular tissue (CuteBear bike club).
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Simultaneously, it could also prevent high blood pressure, gain weight, vascular sclerosis and strengthen bones (CuteBear bike club). Riding the bike will not be as tired tiring as other exercise, so it is good for every age. People could use it tto make their body’s condition ten years old younger than people who did not ride the bike and to burn 150 calories per half hour (CuteBear bike club).
To increase tourism economy of the city by an environmental protection way.
Nowadays, it is easy to travel around the world for most of people than before, and there are more back packer who travel without tour guide. So as to make the journey more fun and convenience for back packer or tours, the city should set up a bike sharing system, which can help tourists to spend less money but have a different experience. In addition, the city could make many suggested route of travels with the scenic spots, which had bike sharing kiosk for the tourists.
To have this convenience and fresh utensil for the tourists, they will convey those experiences to their friends or family, which is another way to attract more people to visit the city.
According to the notion of Jan Lee, the bike sharing is sort of a tourist
attraction in itself. You see bike sharing systems have become
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very iconic in the cities that they are in. I mean, I would go to
York just to check out their bike share system.” (Lee, par 12).
According to the popularity of bike, it seems that bike sharing program could be the most attractive reason to attract people want to visit the city and not only spend more time with less money to have different experience, but saving our natural environment (Bhaattarai).
To decreased the carbon emission by bike during our daily life.
The most important and terrible issue in this century is the greenhouse effect and ozone hole. In the past few years the hole of ozone had shrink a little, however, due to the temperature of that year of South Pole affected the size of hole very much, so it still cannot be confirm that it is stable or not (Yang, par1) .
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s managing director, Michael Replogle participated to write this report; he said: “The fast-growing utility rate of vehicle make transportation business fast-growing, even so the vehicle is also the hugest cause of carbon dioxide (Zou). Accordingly, the method of decreasing carbon emission is advocates people to use public transportation, especially riding the bike (Zou). Accordingly, it is more convenience and choices for poor people who Teng 5
were not have enough money to buy their own means of transportation and reform the air pollution issue (Zou).
In conclusion, by setting up bike kiosks around city, bike sharing add a subject is also building up a sustainable urban vision and represent their city with a health, energetic, safety, happiness, concern, convenience and distinctive image. Therefore, the bike sharing program is definitely a perfect facility of the city.
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Work Cited
Abha Bhattarai. Bike-Sharing: Cycling to a City Near You. FastCompany. Web.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1299317/bike-sharing-cycling-city-near-you
Kaohsiung Public Bike. Kaohsiung Government. Web. http://www.c-bike.com.tw/
CuteBear bike club (台南小熊單車俱樂部). Biking exercise has endless benefits. Web. http://www.bear.twmail.net/bear/a3.html
Jan Lee. Why Cities are Supporting Bike Sharing Programs. TriplePundit. Web.
http://www.triplepundit.com/special/business-of-biking/cities-supporting-bike-sh aring-programs/
Ubike. New Taipei City. Web. http://ntpc.youbike.com.tw/cht/f12.php
Andy Yang. 憂喜參半:臭氧層破洞在縮小，但大氣二氧化碳濃度再創新高>. Engadget.Web.
http://chinese.engadget.com/2015/05/07/earth-ozone-good-co2-bad/?ncid=rss_truncated
Min-Hwue, Zou. <多搭大眾運輸 研究: 2050年全球可省一百兆美元>.
Yahoo News. Web.
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E5%A4%9A%E6%90%AD%E5%A4%A7%E7%9C%BE%E9%81%8B%E8%BC%B8-%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6-2050%E5%B9%B4%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E5%8F%AF%E7%9C%811%E7%99%BE%E5%85%86%E7%BE%8E%E5%85%83-032944864.html
Yvonne Wang. <全民健康風潮，激發飲料市場商機>. 聚焦台灣. Web.
http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/tw/news/spotlight-on-taiwan/beverage-m arket-2013