Ethiopia has been working day in and day out with a focus on modernizing its infrastructure and transportation system working hand in glove with China.
Though the whole lot on the subject of the aforementioned reality is heading in the right direction, the envisioned target has not been attained yet for the most part in the course of rush hour all over Addis Ababa.
Despite a lot of endeavors have been put in place with the purpose of getting to the bottom of the ongoing matter at the earliest possible time, the desired goal has not been fully attained as anticipated. Additional efforts are obligatory as the existing situation needs a quick fix.
By the same token, during rush hour congestion over and over again has been witnessed in Addis Ababa, the capital city Ethiopia and Africa. In actual fact, taking the prevailing predicaments into consideration, Ethiopia has been putting a number of fruitful strategies into effect with the purpose of accomplishing the envisioned goal in the shortest possible.
Although a broad range of transportation system have been brought into play in the length and breadth of the capital city, all the efforts have not borne fruits as one would expect. As a matter of fact, the country possesses a broad range of transportation modes to make life easier for the people of Ethiopia all over the country. However, bike sharing system has not been put into effect.
To the best of my knowledge, Ethiopia can benefit from adopting China’s bike sharing systems on the grounds that each and every one can use various bikes based on their choices with fair price instead of catching taxies, city buses and other means.
Apart from saving times and reducing car emissions, adopting China’s bike sharing systems will create a huge number of job opportunities for various people residing under Addis Ababa’s skies. If truth be told, no matter how long it takes, putting in place the system will not be as difficult as nailing jelly to a tree. By adopting China’s bike sharing system hitting the nail on the head will be a walk in the park.
In a similar vein, working in close collaboration with Chinese firms attaining the sought after goal will not be challenging in view of the fact that they know how to make the system work in a successful manner at the earliest possible time.
As the city has various types of modern roads built by Chinese companies, adopting Chinese bike sharing system can help achieve the city, the looked-for goal through the passage of time. Obviously, one can learn a lot from China’s experience regarding bike sharing system without difficulty.
Following the prevalence of smartphones, mobile payment via Alipay and WeChat, and the decreasing cost of GPS devices, a new business model of bike sharing has been enabled – and undergone explosive growth. The ease of use based on digital technology. GPS and cloud are largely deployed in locating shared bikes. Users can easily use apps and QR codes via their smartphones to make locks open on bikes automatically, according to a source.
Bikes for sharing have highly standardized designs and colorful looks, with strong branding, and are built for convenience. In addition, the high technology applied appeals to a younger target market with novel features that include solid tires, carefully designed light frames, and solar panels in baskets to support the GPS function.
In contrast to other regions in the world, such as Europe, where shared bikes need to be parked in defined areas and locked up to posts, Chinese users
can pick up and drop shared bikes anywhere, which is very convenient, compared to the option of a private bike. When the bike is locked up again, the user pays a fee calculated based on the length of time taken during the ride.
Every nook and cranny of Beijing is inundated with quite a lot of types of eye-catching bicycles. People from all walks of life devoid of any problem can use them rooted in the rules and the regulations. As the system is as easy as taking candy from a baby, anyone can easily use the bicycles. This being the case, they can go anywhere they want based on their choices and interests.
By employing bike-sharing system in every corner of the city, Ethiopia can create quite a lot of job opportunities for fellow citizens through time. The other thing is as there are various types of private and government banks all over the capital city; they can design various mechanisms in which they can run the system smoothly.
In a similar vein, Ethio-telecom can play a huge role in smoothing the path of the system in the shortest possible time so that people from all backgrounds can use bike sharing system with no trouble.
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 22 APRIL 2025
