IRent, an electric-scooter sharing company, plans to expand its service to Taoyuan to cover the nation’s six special municipalities, it said on Tuesday.
Service would start after the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday, which ends on Wednesday next week, the company said.
IRent scooters are currently available in Taipei and New Taipei City in the north, Taichung in central Taiwan and Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south.
The company is operated by Taiwan’s largest vehicle vendor, Hotai Motor, which is a sales agent for Japan’s Toyota Motor.
Other major scooter sharing firms in Taiwan are GoShare, run by Gogoro, and WeMo.
Hotai Motor said that it is keen to forge strategic partnerships with other companies and government agencies to provide more sharing services.
Electric-scooter sharing services have gained popularity among Taiwanese, particularly after the YouBike bicycle sharing service was successfully launched in Taipei, market observers said.
About 90 percent of people in Taiwan know about the sharing economy, and about 40 percent of them have used sharing services at least once, statistics showed.
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