“'Building a Green City' is the development goal of Taipei City government,” said Hau during the event. The practices are to encourage a healthy lifestyle and to promote environment-friendly and accessible public policies.

“The YouBike Public Bicycle System is based on the above principles and aims to make Taipei City a greener city by providing public bicycles for short range transportation since they produce little pollution and are more energy efficient,” he added.

Hau gave positive examples of public bike use by referencing YouBike's French predecessor, the Velib. “After Paris launched the Velib, the user number in the first year totaled 27,000,000. The fluidly of traffic flow in the city increased by 70% and it successfully transformed the Parisian lifestyle.”

“It is the Taipei City government's wish that Taipei denizens will follow suit and protect the environment,” he added. Hau then urged everyone to respect and share the bicycles.

The first phase of the YouBike Public Bicycle System, beginning from March 11th to April 10th, makes YouBikes available at Bicycle Parking Meters in five areas, including --inyi Square, the City Hall Square, Taipei City Hall, MRT Taipei City Hall Station, and TWTC Hall 3.

The second phase will begin on April 11th and plans to open six additional Bicycle Parking Meters, which will make a total of 11 stations available to the public.

Liu Jin-biao, CEO of Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd, the maker of the YouBikes, explained that the top-quality bicycles were one-of-a-kind.

The high temperature and humid climate in Taipei requires anti-rust design in order to prolong its life, said Liu. While a three-gear shift enables high padding efficiency so that the riders can ride with ease.

The wrap-up design enables ladies in long skirts to ride without worrying about the draw-in problem. The dynamo hub can generate power for the front and rear lights automatically, and keep the rear light on even when riders are not padding.

Lastly, the components are designed to be hard-to-dismantle for safety reasons; patented burglarproof lock and advanced RFID chip technology were all included to provide an efficient and thief-proof rental process.

“We have brought a world class design to serve the Taiwanese public. We must all have faith now, that everyone will take good care of them,” Liu said.

Cardif Assurance Vie and its parent company, BNP Paribas Group, have signed to sponsor Youbike with NT$5 million for the next two years.

“It's our honor to become Taipei YouBike's Environment-friendly Partner,” said Ben Ng, General Manager of Cardif Assurance Vie, Taiwan Branch. Ng professed that Cardif was eager to provide Taiwan with the pleasant experience of city biking similar to that of Velib.

Another notable partnership ties YouBike with Google, Taiwan. The YouBike official website has been integrated with the Google Maps technology, which will introduce a whole new function providing real-time information of leasing stations. The web pages enable bike users to look ahead of time of available parking spaces and the number of remaining bikes at each station.

The honored guests at the ceremony unanimously promoted the idea of 'sharing is a virtue' and encouraged 'fast rent and return.' They hope that YouBike not only embodies environmental protection, but marks the beginning of the revolution of Taipei citizens' commute culture.

After the ceremony, Hau and other honored guests as well as members of the public hopped on the available fleet of YouBikes and took the first ride across the city on the new transportation system.

The YouBike Public Bicycle System uses the EasyCard as the membership card. Short-Term Card registration is available form the information kiosk at each rental point.

The process to rent and return the bikes is easy: by using the EasyCard on the Sensor Zone of the Bicycle Parking Meter, a green 'Take Bicycle' light will switch on with a beep and enable the user to pull the bike from the rack.

To return the bike, one simply inserts the bike into the closest empty bike rack and the Bicycle Parking Meter will register its return. To finish the transaction, a blue 'Place card over sensor' light will flash and the EasyCard will be deducted for the fee.

There are two types of cards: Long-Term and Short-Term. The Short-Term Card is recommended for tourists and travelers. For both cards, the first 30 minutes of each session is free. Each addition 15 minutes after that costs NT$10.

The basic rate for the Short-Term Card is NT$40 a day or NT$150 for five. The Long-Term card comes in increments of 3 months, 6 months, and a years, each at NT$800, NT$1,000, and NT$1500.

The cards are available at the YouBike website or YouBike service center. For more information, please visit the YouBike Official Website¡Gwww.youbike.com.tw