Shanghai universities are making their own contributions to green commuting to minimize car rides and pollution.
At Fudan University, about 2,500 bicycles painted in yellow and offered by "ofo bicycle," a startup company run by four students of Peking University, had been deployed, a university official said.
This would curb the problem of new students buying bikes to commute across campus or nearby destinations, and then dumping their bikes after graduation. The university had found itself with 2,000 unwanted bicycles every year and had to pay to dispose of them.
But now, students simply scan the QR codes on the hired bicycles to receive codes to unlock them, and hiring charges are kept to a minimum. The university has a team patrolling the campus to pump up tires and resolve any repair problems.
The official said the ofo bicycles were now used about 4,000 times a day at Fudan.
"I use the ofo bicycle as it's convenient and the price is affordable for us," said a medical student surnamed Zhou. But he said more bikes were needed.
In other universities, such as Tongji, a bike rental scheme called "mobike" is proving popular. Besides bicycles, Tongji and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have also introduced electronic car rental services.
At Tongji, the "EVCARD" program was launched in 2013 to help students and teachers to commute between its two campuses in Jiading and Yangpu districts. Jiao Tong used the electronic cars to pick up newly starting students from Metro stations and driving them to campus to encourage them to opt for green travel.
