After more than half a month of piloting public bike rental service in Da Nang, a total of more than 400,000 local residents and tourists have downloaded the TNGO app to register to use this interesting service, the majority of whom are the young.

Young people in Da Nang are eager to experience the public bike rental service. Photo: H.L

As observed at around 4.00pm on March 28, at the T22 bike rental station in front of the Da Nang Museum, there were many young people who came to experience the public bike rental service.

Holding the phone to scan the QR code to unlock the bike, Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 20, a student from the Faculty of Tourism of the Da Nang University of Economics said that this was the second time Lan had experienced this new service.

“3 days ago, I rented a bike at a station on Tran Hung Dao Street, then cycled towards the Thuan Phuoc Bridge to admire the scenery and drink sugarcane juice. Now I want to experience cycling in the afternoon to the Con Market to enjoy snacks with a group of close friends”, eagerly said Lan.

According to observations, the use of the TNGO app for payment, unlocking and locking the bike and accompanying utilities such as places for phones and drinking water, makes the travel ride so easy and comfortable. According to Lan, as compared to the traditional bike rental ways, installing the app, scanning the QR code to unlock and lock the bike, and pay online is much more convenient.

During the pilot period of 12 months from the date of operation, the bike ride costs VND5,000 (US$0.21) for every 30 minutes and VND50,000 ($2.1) per day for each trip lasting 7.5 hours at the maximum. Bike users must download the TNGO app on their cellphones to unlock the vehicles and can pay via e-wallets including ZaloPay, MoMo, ViettelPay, and VTC Pay. In fact, the payment fee corresponding to such renal durations helps users flexibly rent the bike according to their real needs.

In a similar vein, Nguyen Huu Vinh, an 11th grader from the Tran Phu Senior High School regularly rents a bike to attend extra classes after school.

Vinh excitedly: “My house is on Tran Hung Dao Street, near the bike rental point, so for nearly this week, at the end of the afternoon, I often go there to rent a bike for a ride to extra classes about 3km away from home. Even in the morning, I usually rent a bike for a trip beaches. The rental app is quite simple, it doesn't take much time, not to mention that yesterday afternoon when I apply the code DANANG10, I received an additional VND 10,000 discount on the app for the next rental round”.

The public bike rental service has been deployed by Da Nang since mid-March, with 61 stations with a combined total of 600 available bicycles distributed throughout the city's districts.

Mr. Do Ba Quan, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tri Nam Digital Transport Service JSC, the service’s investor, said that after a short pilot period, the percentage of Da Nang people experiencing cycling was quite high. As of March 29, more than 2,000 bike rental turns had been recorded. The bike is designed with a suitable height for Vietnamese people and the saddle can be raised and lowered easily.

To protect users against the risk of bike theft during use, the vehicles are equipped with anti-theft locks, locators, charging devices, solar collectors, GPS systems, distinctive number plates, as well as front baskets and headlights.

In addition, solid honeycomb tyres help prevent punctures, ensuring smoothness when traveling. During the ride, if having problems, customers can call the switchboard’s hotline available on the app for urgent help and support.

 Also, they are designed with appropriate heights of users of all ages and genders. In particular, each bike is attached with an ID card, and through the central software system, the operator can monitor where the bike is or which customer is using it.

The demand for public bike ride experiences in Da Nang has increased over recent days. Many young people said that bicycle rental points are located near bus stations to make travel more economical.
After using the service for 3 occasions, Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong from Hai Chau 1 Ward, Hai Chau

District believes that people can use the service to travel in the inner city instead of taking personal motorbikes and cars. However, in order for this model to develop further, investors need to equip additional shock absorbers, such as wheels and saddles which need to use softer rubber, thereby helping to bring the most comfortable feeling to people.

Reporting by HUYNH LE - Translating by A.THU