Although, in its current computerized form, bike share began in France in 1998, giving Europe a substantial head start, nothing compares to the size of China's programs.
Joseph Stromberg explains a reason for bike share enthusiasts to be envious of China: the growth of bike share programs in the United States "is absolutely dwarfed by the explosion of bike share programs in China over the last couple of years." For some perspective on just how many more bikes are available to share in China: "All told, China has eight cities with more bike share bikes than the entire United States does."
China's ascendance in the bike share race is, in fact, a new thing. "The country now has more than 400,000 bike share bikes in operation across dozens of cities with programs, with the vast majority installed since 2012. To put this in perspective, there are an estimated 822,00 bikes in operation around the world — so China has more bikes than all other countries combined. The individual country with the next-highest number of bikes, France, has just 45,000."
Read the full story: China has 8 cities with bigger bike share systems than all of America
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