500 millionth Taipei YouBike renter to get NT$20,000 prize

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) The person who becomes the 500 millionth renter of Taiwan's public bicycle-rental system, YouBike, in Taipei in the coming weeks will receive a shopping voucher for NT$20,000 (US$630), the Taipei City Department of Transportation said Monday.

In a press release on the program's high number of riders, the department projected that the 500 millionth YouBike renter milestone would be hit around Sept. 14.

The projection is based on the department's statistics, which show that Taipei's bike-rental system hit its 100 millionth user mark in April 2018.

It then took about three and a half years to hit the 200 millionth mark, before surpassing the 300 millionth milestone approximately two and a half years after that.

With the relaunch of the first-30-minutes-free policy under Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Feb. 28, 2024, it then took just 17 months for the system to accumulate another 100 million users to hit 400 million.

The city department said the person identified as the 500 millionth YouBike user to rent a bike from a station in Taipei and return it within the capital will receive NT$20,000 in shopping credits, redeemable for vouchers at any of its 16 commercial partners.

Additionally, the five cyclists who rent a bike in Taipei immediately before and the five who rent one immediately after the 500 millionth user will each receive NT$1,000 in shopping vouchers for use at Taiwan lifestyle and beauty retail chain Poya.

The department added that the 11 winners will be announced on its official website and also the Taipei YouBike Facebook fan page, while the winners themselves will be notified via text messages and phone calls.

According to the department's statistics, there are 1,794 YouBike stations around Taipei at present, averaging 150-200 meters between each other.

Taipei is home to 27,438 YouBike bicycles, of which 4,350 are electric models that help riders accelerate.

YouBikes in Kaohsiung

Echoing Taipei's efforts to help the city go green by supporting commuting with YouBikes, the Kaohsiung City Transportation Bureau on Monday also announced that it will be adding 1,200 more bicycles to the city's YouBike system.

The bureau said it has planned to add 965 bicycles and 235 electric bikes by November this year, bringing the total number of YouBike bicycles in the southern Taiwan port city to 14,306 units, 2,141 of which would be electric.

Since incorporating the YouBike 2.0 system into the city in 2020, Kaohsiung now has 1,500 stations, and its system has accumulated about 91 million users, the bureau said.