As planned, the bikes will be placed within this year at 70-80 stations in the districts of Ba Dinh, Tay Ho, Dong Da, Thanh Xuan and near stations of the Cat Linh – Ha Dong metro line, the first of its kind in Hanoi and Vietnam that started operation late last year.
In the second phase of the project, 3,000 more bikes will be put into use at 350 stations between 2023 and 2024, Vietnam News Agency reported.
The project is estimated to cost VND26 billion ($1.14 million) from the investor, Hanoi-based technology firm Tri Nam Group JSC, which will collect fees from bike users for capital recovery.
It is planning to charge users VND20,000 per hour for electric bicycles. The price for normal bikes has not been planned.
Tri Nam has proposed city authorities set up charging stations to better serve users.
The company has been operating the public bicycle service in HCMC since last December.
There are currently 43 stations across the cities, with each providing 10-20 bicycles. The cost to rent one is VND5,000 (22 cents) for 30 minutes, and VND10,000 for an hour. Users have to download and install the free TNGO app on their smartphone and make a deposit to rent a bike.