ULAN BATOR, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will launch a bike-sharing project in capital Ulan Bator on May 31 to reduce air pollution and traffic jam, the mayor's press office said in a statement.

S. Batbold, Ulan Bator's mayor, and G. Dashnyam, CEO of bicycle maker Nickel Ganbaa, signed an agreement here Tuesday to implement the U-Bike project, which will place 500 bicycles in over 40 locations in the first phase.

The bicycles will have GPS devices to prevent theft.

By 2020, 2,000 bicycles will be deployed in 150 locations.

Electric bicycles, numbering 2,500, will be put in 250 locations by 2021-2026. By 2027-2033, their number will be doubled.

The fee for the service will be 500 Mongolian tugrik (20 U.S. cents) per 30 minutes, and 800 tugrik (about 33 cents) per hour.