Public bicycles in Seoul enjoy early success

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- The public bicycle sharing system introduced last year across Seoul has been successful in its early months, the city office said Tuesday.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 11,559 people have ridden the city's public bikes since they were installed last November. Seoul said 440 bicycles are available at 43 subway stations in the central and western parts of the city, and riders can pay for their use with credit cards or public transit cards.



According to Seoul's data, the number of daily riders has gone up from 359 in February to 612 in May. In a survey, 85 percent of the people who've used the service said they were satisfied, and 93 percent supported increasing the number of bikes.
Seoul said it will make further efforts to facilitate the use of the bikes, including installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) and employing more managers to assist riders at stations.
"Once the system settles down, we will add more bikes and set up more stations," a Seoul official said.
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