Tri Nam Group Joint Stock Company, the investor of a public bicycle project in Ho Chi Minh City, has announced the arrival of 500 imported bikes for piloting its shared bicycle service, called Mobike, within this month.

Currently, the bicycles are undergoing a technical test and equipped with a smart lock and a GPS positioning device, Do Ba Dan, chairman of Tri Nam, said on Monday.

The first 388 bicycles in the batch are expected to be put into use this month while the remainder are to be left in backups.

Tri Nam has set up 43 bicycle stations on sidewalks and at bus stations around District 1, with each having 10-20 bicycles.

Bicycle renters are required to download the Mobike app on their cellphones to identify the nearest point where vehicles are available for rent.

Bicycle rent rates will be based on service use time, such as VND5,000 (US$0.22) and VND10,000 ($0.44) for every 30 minutes and 60 minutes of cycling, respectively.

The investor will also waive rents for the first 15 minutes in the first three months of the pilot scheme as a way to attract users.

“We hope the public bicycles will create a new traveling habit in the inner city,” Dan said. 

“In the long term, they will contribute to limiting private vehicles, promoting the development of public vehicles, and reducing congestion on downtown streets.”

Ho Chi Minh City authorities approved the pilot plan for public bicycle sharing in District 1 in April, but the fourth wave of COVID-19, which erupted on April 27 and has caused over 433,000 local infections in the city, has postponed its implementation.

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