A bicycle rental scheme will be extended to three more Metro stations in the Waigaoqiao area on Line 6 from Monday.

Shanghai Metro Operation Co and Shanghai Forever Bicycle Co have teamed up to add the pedal power program to Waigaoqiao South Station, Hangjin Lu Station and Waigaoqiao North Station, according to a Youth Daily report today.

The "Metro+bicycle" project started at Line 2's Zhangjiang High-tech Park Station in late September and the environmentally friendly project has been warmly welcomed by office workers in the area. The service will be available at four more spots soon with the ultimate goal of 100 in the area.

Project operators hope the service will eventually cover all Metro stations in the city. By the middle of next year the service will be available at Zhongshan Park Station and Xinzhuang Metro Station, the report said.

A 200-yuan (US$28) deposit is required and the rental fee is between 1 yuan and 3 yuan per hour. The rental rate increases the longer you keep the bike to encourage people to return as quickly as possible. If you keep a bike for 24 hours it will cost 60 yuan.

Shanghai Forever tracks the bicycles with GPS devices If a bike is stolen the renter will lose the deposit, the report said.

(Shanghai Daily December 3, 2008)