2017年CRI China’s dockless Mobikes launched in London

 

Mobike, one of China's main bike-sharing companies, released a fleet of 750 dockless bikes in London on Tuesday, going head to head with its rival Ofo, which descended¹ on the streets of the British capital only a week ago.

London is Mobike's second UK expansion after it tested the waters in Manchester. About two months ago in late June, the Chinese bike-sharing company introduced 1,000 of its orange bikes to Manchester, receiving a warm welcome from council officials and cyclists alike. Reviewers have rated Mobike as one of the most popular choices when it comes to hiring a bike because it does not require a docking station and can be tracked with a smart phone app.

Mobike is bringing the first batch² of 750 bikes to the west London borough³ of Ealing. At the launch, Li Yang, Partnerships⁴ Manager at Mobike UK, demonstrated how to unlock a bike using a pre-downloaded smart phone app.

"Open the app on your phone, scan the QR code on the bike, and then there you go," said Li.

"I found the bike near the station when I got out of the tube. I just opened the app and scan the code, and I was away! It was great, I cycled down here in about five minutes, it was really convenient," said cycling enthusiast⁵ Duncan, who was among the first to try out one of the shiny orange bikes.

Steve Pyer, General Manager of Mobike UK, said Mobike has a very different operating system from the famous Boris Bike, which had become an integral part of the commute⁶ in London. Not only is Mobike equipped with the latest technologies, it costs notably⁷ less than a Boris Bike, with a rate set at 50 pence per half hour. 

Moreover, to prevent users from misplacing their bikes, an issue that has created such a headache for local governments in Chinese cities, Mobike UK has devised a redistribution system and a reward scheme to give users extra credits for placing their bikes at preferred locations.

"Obviously our bikes are tracked on GPS, so we know where the bikes are all the time. We will know where the bikes are not frequently used and bring them to the busy areas. Our teams are out all the time, trying to make sure we do move them and make them nice and tidy in their preferred locations and trying to improve our service. Our teams are out there successfully doing that," said Pyer.

The Ealing Council had been working actively⁸ with the company to allocate⁹ special areas for the dockless bikes so that cyclists can leave their bikes at any existing bike stands as well as newly marked Mobike preferred locations. 

"We are a very pro-cycling borough, and myself as the leader of the council, I cycle everywhere. We are really pushing hard to try and get more people to cycle and that's why we got Mobike to come and launch their dockless bike hire scheme, because it's a great way to get more people on their bikes. It's cheap, they don't have to buy a bike, it's healthy and it's sustainable. We really want to encourage it," said Julian Bell, the leader of the local council.

Mobike is not the only Chinese bike-sharing company that is eyeing up the London market. About a week ago, Ofo rolled out its smart bike service in the east London borough of Hackney. Both companies harbor ambitious plans of going global with their smart-bike schemes. Ofo has so far entered eight countries outside China, and Mobike has also launched in Japan, Singapore and Italy.

1 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

2 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

3 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

4 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

5 enthusiast   

n.热心人，热衷者

参考例句：

• He is an enthusiast about politics.他是个热衷于政治的人。
• He was an enthusiast and loved to evoke enthusiasm in others.他是一个激情昂扬的人，也热中于唤起他人心中的激情。

6 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。