Zhangjiang High-Tech Park plans to make 5,000 rental bikes available by the time World Expo starts next year to help the white-collar workers commute between the park and the nearest Metro station.

Park management officials said they planned to increase the number of bike rental stations to 150, every 300 meters in the 25-square-kilometer area.

The project started in October with just 20 bikes and two rental stations - one in the park and one at the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park Metro station.

"The service has been very popular among white-collar workers," said Zhang Cailuo, an official with the park management committee.

Currently, about 600 rental bikes travel between 50 venues every day. Each bike is used 3.4 times a day on average.

To rent a bike, users pay a 200-yuan (US$28) deposit for free travel for the first 30 minutes. Then they pay 1 to 3 yuan per hour for any additional time.

(Shanghai Daily September 4, 2009)