Updated YouBike App to confirm user payments

The urban bike rental system, YouBike, has updated its official app so that users can now be sure if they have returned bikes properly and paid the required fees, Taipei's Department of Transportation (DOT) said Tuesday.

The new function was developed based on statistics showing that most calls to the YouBike customer service hotline were to check to see if users had successfully returned their bike or if payment of the rental fee with their EasyCard had gone through, the Taipei DOT said.

To get access to these new functions, users only have to download the YouBike App, enter their membership account number and sign up for the notification function.

The function will automatically notify them within three minutes every time they return a bike to a station. It will also notify users of emergency situations or general information on public bike operations, the DOT said.

Also, if people lose their EasyCards, they can delete their card registration on the app to prevent it from being misappropriated, the department said.

It reminded YouBike users, however, that when they return the bikes and use an EasyCard to pay the bill, they must check to see if the color of the light on the panel of the parking slot has turned from blue to green, the signal that payment has gone through and the bike has been returned.

The urban bike system is now available in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung and Changhua County.

Source: Focus Taiwan