HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Transport will set up 74 parking spots for rental of electric motorbikes in an effort to improve transportation convenience for local residents.

About 1,000 electric motorbikes will be offered for rent at sites in District 1.

To use the motorbikes, drivers will download an app called Vimotor which provides information on the nearest parking spots and allows them to scan codes on the motorbike to unlock it.

When users finish their ride, they will park their rented vehicles at a designated parking spot and pay for the ride via the Vimotor app.

Users are charged VNĐ3,000 for the first 10 minutes of their ride and VNĐ1,500 for every five minutes thereafter.

Since the average rental time is between 15 and 20 minutes, each ride costs VNĐ4,500 to 6,000, according to the transport department.

To encourage them to use the service, during the first three months of operation, local residents will not be charged.

The service, operated by IOT Technology Investment and Development Company (IOT), will be piloted in District 1 at parking sites located 200 to 300m from each other.

The sites will be set up near bus stops, schools, hospitals and entertainment venues, among others.

IOT plans to expand the project to the city’s remaining districts after three years of operation, with a total of 50,000 electric motorbikes.

The motorbikes to be used in the first three months will be imported, and monitoring devices will be attached to each motorbike to prevent theft, according to IOT.

Rentals of electric motorbikes have become common in China and European countries like Germany, France, Spain and Portugal, the transport department said.

The city’s Police Department said that it was important to reduce the number of vehicles on the streets to have space for electric motorbikes.

Trần Chí Trung, director of the HCM City Public Passenger Transport Management and Operation Centre, said the motorbike rental service could lead to other new modes of public transport.

The director of the transport department, Bùi Xuân Cường, said the motorbike rental stands located near bus and metro stations will increase ridership on public transport.

IOT, which is currently seeking approval from authorities, will spend one to 1.5 months designing the motorbike parking lots before opening the sites. — VNS