Beijing will ban any more shared bikes from being stationed in the city, the local transport authority announced on Thursday, following a meeting with the city’s bike-sharing companies.

There are 15 bike-sharing platforms in Beijing and the number of shared bikes in the urban area has reached 2.35 million, according to statistics. The rapid expansion has led to parking chaos, safety hazards, and obstructions in crowded areas, such as subway entrances, bus stations, and shopping malls.

The Beijing transport authority said they will release more measures for the bike-sharing industry, including issuing technical guidelines to regulate bike parking and adopting a credit system to regulate bike parking in designated areas.

Eleven cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan had already barred companies from putting more bikes on the streets.

The bike-sharing companies said they will comply with the new measures. The Beijing transport authority said they will not launch shared electric bicycles, considering users’ safety, parking order, road conditions, and other factors.

(People's Daily Online, September 7, 2017)