Taiwan startup WeMo, which has operated a scooter-sharing system since its inception in October 2016, is moving to cooperate with theTaipei city government to work out practical smart city solutions by leveraging big data collected over the past two years of services while also continuing expanding the number of electric scooters deployed in Taiwan's capital city.
WeMo CEO Jeffrey Wu said that over the past two years, his company has deployed only 200 electric scooters in some Taipei districts, seeking to deeply analyze the needs, habits and feedbacks of users before the scale of its scooter fleet is expanded.
In addition, the big data arising from large scooter rides on streets can be further analyzed to serve as reference for WeMo, related partners and the city government for promoting smart city solutions, particularly including monitoring systems for air quality, road quality, and flooding, according to Wu.
Under the scooter-sharing system, riders need to download WeMo's app to their mobile devices and find a WeMo scooter nearby, and then reserve and ride the scooter and pay the rental on the app via their smartphones. The trial rate is NT$25 (US$0.80) for the first 10 minutes and NT$2.50 more for any additional minute. Riders can park the scooter at any public motorcycle parking spot.
Wu disclosed that his company may adopt a dynamic pricing formula after building models for user and scooter flows, so as to allow flexible rides by users and maintain the spread density of WeMo scooters.