The Times of India 14.12.2010
PMC’s cycle project to wheel out in six months
PUNE: The eco-friendly share and ride public bicycling system will begin in Pune in the next three to six months. The pilot project would have 25 stations and 300 bicycles, will be for free for the first two hours and at a nominal rate thereafter for the first year.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) believes that the public bicycling system would be convenient and economical for short distance travellers, especially those making trips from railway stations or bus terminals to markets, work places and educational institutions.
The public bicycling system was mooted two years ago, but had been in the cold storage for all these months. It has now been revived with the municipal corporation which invited fresh offers from private agencies for implementing the project on DBOOT (design, build, own, operate and transfer) basis.
Incidentally, offers had been invited in October as well. Last week, the PMC came out with more details and emphasis on various other features of the project.
The civic body would decide about the offers in the first week of January. As per the plan, the private entrepreneur or agency running the system, would have to cover the cost of the project through display of advertisements in areas decided by the municipal corporation, and from the bicycle rental charges, civic officials said.
According to officials, in the pilot phase of the project, the city-wide system of using bicycles will have cycle stations which will be located within 300 m of one another. The scheme is proposed to be scaled up later with more members, bicycles and number of cycle stations.
Citizens can register their names for regular use of these bicycles. A bicycle can be procured by only the registered members at any station and can be returned at any station for a nominal charge. To promote the use of bicycles in the scheme in the first year of the launch, PMC has proposed that the bicycles will be available for free for the first two hours of usage.
In the second year, the rental charges are proposed to be Rs 5 for the first hour and Rs 10 for every additional half an hour. There will be no rental charges for use of bicycles for the first thirty minutes. If the bicycle is returned early, the members stand to gain bonus points which can be redeemed later.
The members will have to pay a deposit of Rs 700, out of which Rs 500 will be refundable and Rs 200 as non-refundable onetime activation charge. The PMC has also asked the entrepreneurs to work out a plan for renting out bicycles to occasional users.
Incidentally, the municipal corporation has laid emphasis on the branding and marketing of the scheme, to make it attractive for the users.
This point had been stressed at a workshop on the public bicycling system organised by Parisar and Janwani, both non-governmental organisations actively working for various development programmes in the city.
It has stressed that the design and branding features will have to be created by professional designers which will become the intellectual property of the civic body.
Besides locking systems, the bicycles to be provided by the entrepreneur should be sturdy with proper mud guards, tyres, brakes, stand and reflectors, the PMC has stated. Users would also be able to get online information about their account and usage details. Incidentally, a survey conducted by Parisar, said that citizens liked the idea of PBS saying that it would reduce pollution and traffic congestion.
How it works
The commuter visits the stand
Touches his card on a hand-held device
The card is validated
The cycle is issued
The commuter reaches his destination and deposits the bicycle
Pays the charges due to him/her
The clue lies in planning
Experts want the civic body to implement the public bicycling system through proper planning. They have also stressed the need for creating a bicycle-friendly road environment which would make it safer for citizens to use the bicycles. Regular bicycle users say that the cycle tracks need to be continuous, properly maintained and free of encroachments. There should be proper road signages and should be exclusively used only by bicycle users and not by other vehicles, particularly two-wheelers. At present, there are about 1.5 lakh bicycle users in the city.
