【口譯實踐】分享單車：論中國自行車的逆襲
Unlock them with an app, drop them off anywhere, and nip past lanes of stationary car traffic: the humble bicycle is seeing a revival in China as a new generation of start-ups help tackle urban congestion and pollution with fleets of brightly coloured two wheelers.
用手機應用即可解鎖，騎過的車子可以放在任何地方，快速穿過靜止不動的車流：新一代初創公司通過推廣色彩鮮明的自行車來應對城市擁堵與污染的問題，這種低調的兩輪交通工具在中國迎來複興。
The Bike-share concept has attracted huge venture capital as fledgling firms wrestle for market share. Such has been the success of this made-in-China business model, which is using smart phones to reignite the nation’s passion for cycling, companies are hatching plans to export the idea worldwide.
其他初創公司仍在爲市場份額而苦苦掙扎，分享單車的概念卻吸引了大量風險投資。這是中國製造商業模式所取得的成功，智能手機應用重新點燃了國民騎自行車出行的熱情，各家公司努力制定計劃向全世界出口這種理念。
"We are focused on how to make the small bicycle have a big impact," said Davis Wang, CEO of Mobike, which launched last April in Shanghai and already has several hundred thousand of its silver-and-orange "smart" bikes in 13 Chinese cities.
摩拜的首席執行官王曉峯表示：“我們關注的是如何讓小小的自行車發揮出巨大的影響力”。摩拜於去年四月正式在上海上線，在中國的13座城市已經擁有了幾十萬輛銀橘色相間的“智能”自行車。
Key rivals Mobike, Ofo and others are tapping into the sharing economy ethic behind Airbnb and ride-hailing apps such as Uber, and targeting China’s 700 million mobile phone users, who increasingly use their smartphone for transactions.
摩拜和其主要競爭對手Ofo等數家公司追隨空中食宿和優步的腳步，邁入分享經濟大潮，瞄準中國7億手機用戶，通過智能手機進行的交易日漸增長。
Customers use the firm’s app to release a bike’s lock for rides costing as little as 1 yuan (15 cents) an hour. Bikes can be left anywhere for the next user.
該應用用戶只需支付一元錢就能解鎖並使用自行車，上一位用戶可以將車放在任意位置供下一位用戶使用。
Mobike’s app also shows where idle bikes are, while both companies capture rider data they say can help in traffic planning.
摩拜的應用還可以顯示自行車的理想位置，兩家公司對騎行者的數據進行了捕捉，表示這些數據有助於交通規劃。
"If we can persuade hundreds of thousands of people in every city to start to re-use bikes every day, then we can create a social impact for every city," Wang told AFP.
王曉峯告訴法新社“如果我們每天在每座城市都能讓幾十萬人重新使用自行車，便足以創造巨大的社會效應”。
- Last-mile problem -
最後一英里的難題
Once emblematic of China’s masses, bikes lost ground as economic growth and urban sprawl fuelled consumer demand for cars -- the nation is now the world’s largest automobile market.
自行車曾一度是中國混亂的象徵。隨着經濟發展，城市的擴張導致消費者對汽車的需求激增，自行車逐漸失去了原有的地位。如今中國已經成爲世界第一大汽車市場。
Cities gridlocked by traffic and deteriorating air quality have prompted both government and consumers to search for greener solutions.
中國的城市充斥着交通擁堵，空氣質量惡化的現象，政府與消費者正在尋求更加環保的解決方案。
Industry evangelists say the new approach to bike sharing can help change that by solving the "first-mile/last-mile" problem that has long plagued urban planners: how to move commuters between their homes and public transit.
行業的佈道者表示自行車分享的新途徑能夠通過解決困擾城市規劃者們多年的“首個一英里/最後一英里”的難題來改變這種現狀：如何讓通勤人員在家庭和公共設施之間順暢移動。
The inconvenience of travelling to a bus stop or metro station can be enough of a psychological barrier to push commuters toward taxis or car ownership.
乘公交車與地鐵的不便成爲了許多通勤人員的心理障礙，推動他們乘坐出租車或者駕駛私家車出行。
"In places where the subway does not extend, where it’s difficult to change from one kind of transport to another, it’s so easy to get where you want to go with Mobike," said Hu Hong, 29, who pedals to her Shanghai real-estate job.
29歲的胡紅（音譯）平時騎自行車去房地產公司上班，她表示：“有的地方沒有地鐵，有的地方很難換乘其他交通工具，有了摩拜很容易就能去自己想去的地方”。
Some Chinese cities started municipal bike-rental schemes years ago that allow users to pick up and drop off their wheels at designated stations, similar to hundreds of programmes around the world.
租賃自行車的業務於幾年前在中國的一些城市開始發展起來，用戶可在指定地點騎車或者放車，全世界還有數百個類似的項目。
Today’s start-ups have removed that shackle, and the convenience of being able to drop off anywhere means a new generation of riders are now ubiquitous in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.
今天的創業公司擺脫了這種束縛，隨意放置自行車的便利意味着新一代自行車用戶在上海和北京這樣的城市也將變得隨處可見。
Ofo, which launched in 2015 as a Peking University student project, claims 10 million users for its one million bright-yellow bikes in 33 cities. It plans to add 10-15 million bikes this year, chief operating officer Zhang Yanqi told AFP
Ofo最初作爲北京大學的學生項目於2015年正式上線，在33座城市投放了100萬輛自行車，收穫了1億用戶。Ofo首席運營官張嚴琪向法新社透露，公司計劃今年增加1000萬到1500萬自行車。
Mobike shares a time-lapse graphic that, using its GPS system, tracks customer rides over a recent day in Shanghai.
摩拜分享了一份延時圖，這份延時圖運用了摩拜的全球定位系統，記錄了上海用戶最近一天的騎行情況。
Eager to cash in, Chinese and foreign investors have handed Mobike and Ofo hundreds of millions of dollars.
中外投資者都渴望向摩拜和Ofo投入大量現金，目前兩家公司已接受了上億美元的投資。
The ramp-up recalls the battle between China ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing and Uber, into which both poured billions of dollars before joining forces last year with Didi in command.
這場投資狂潮不禁讓人想起當年中國叫車軟件的領軍者滴滴出行與優步的爭奪戰。當初兩大公司都投入了數十億美元，此後兩家公司完成合並，滴滴佔據主導地位。
Didi is among Ofo’s biggest investors, while Mobike CEO Wang is a former Uber exec.
滴滴是Ofo最大的投資商之一，而摩拜的CEO王曉峯則是優步的前高管。
Mobike’s investors include Chinese Internet giant Tencent and Taiwan tech-manufacturing powerhouse Foxconn, a major Apple supplier.
摩拜的投資者包括中國互聯網巨頭騰訊以及蘋果公司主供應商富士康公司。
- Burning cash -
燒錢
Jeffrey Towson, a professor of investing at Peking University, said "economic reality is being suspended" as rivals burn cash to grab turf.
北京大學的投資學教授傑弗裏·託森認爲，兩大對手爲奪得市場份額而瘋狂燒錢，“經濟現實正在推遲”。
"I think they’re going to pull it off. A lot of businesses start this way: you have lightning in a bottle, a hot app, and you build a more sustainable business as you go," he explained.
他解釋道：“我認爲他們正在贏得成功，許多公司一開始都是這樣：一個具有閃光點的想法，一款熱門的手機應用，逐步搭建起更加可持續的商業模式”。
Weaker entrants will drop out or be absorbed, Towson added.
託森還認爲較弱的入口將遭到放棄或吞併。
China’s government singled out Mobike and Ofo last month -- praising bike-sharing as a means of cutting emissions and traffic.
中國政府上個月點名表揚了摩拜和Ofo，稱讚共享單車是一種降低污染氣體排放，緩解交通壓力的出行方式。
Ofo launched in Singapore in recent weeks, and is now eyeing US and European markets. Mobike plans to enter Singapore within weeks.
Ofo最近幾周已在新加坡上線，現在又將目光對準了美國與歐洲市場。摩拜計劃於幾周內進入新加坡。
Analysts said regulatory issues, logistics, and lower use of mobile payments overseas could brake expansion.
分析人士指出，監管問題﹑物流和海外手機支付的低使用率可能會抑制擴張的速度。
Lower winter ridership and losses from damage and theft also will weigh on bottom lines, they add, but insist the future appears bright.
分析人士還認爲，冬天騎行率較低，破壞及盜竊造成的損失都將帶來沉重的壓力。但是分析人士堅定地認爲分享單車的前景是光明的。
Both Mobike and Ofo loftily envision tens of millions of connected bikes worldwide.
摩拜和Ofo都在暢想未來全世界千萬輛自行車互相聯通的情景。
"It has only just begun," said Ofo’s Zhang.
張嚴琪表示：“一切剛剛開始”。
"We hope to fulfil this vision in the next two to three years."
“我們希望在未來兩到三年內實現這個設想。”
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