The Hangzhou Public Bicycle program was started in 2008. Its original purpose was to solve the problem of short-distance traffic connections between bus stations in the city and people’s working and living locations. It has developed into the world’s largest free bicycle system, offering environment-friendly, short-distance transport, as well as leisure and fitness. 84,100 bicycles are currently available at 3,531 rental stations. The average daily turnover is five rides for each bike, more than 96% of the rides are free, and 310,000 rider trips cover a total of more than 700,000 kilometers per day on average. In 2011, the BBC described Hangzhou as one of the “eight great cities for public bicycle programs.”