Places such as The Bike Affair and Ciclo Café strive towards making the city a safer and more accepting venue for cyclists. So now SmartBike, a global Public Bike Sharing (PBS) system in joint venture with nextbike Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) in Germany, is piquing the curiosity of those who amble past the stations set up around Hyderabad.
Origin story
Established in Germany in 2004, SmartBike Mobility has developed over the past 13 years where over 150 cities have hopped upon the cycling bandwagon of ‘last mile connectivity.’ Other bike sharing programmes are available in China, England, USA, Canada, Mexico, France and Australia... to name a few.
In August, SmartBike Mobility set up a demo station, much to the delight of the city. According to an Instagram post by Dharmin Dontamsetti one of the heads of the movement here, “It was a tough competition against leading international public bike sharing companies.”
How it works
Aranya, a young commuter, explains, “This system is really helpful. I’m saving up for a car and all I needed to do right now is invest in a helmet. So going to classes has been easy.” As per the app nextbike, she says it’s a very comprehensive UX (user experience) and totally secure as far as she’s concerned.
All one needs to do is install the ‘nextbike’ app which links your phone to a directory of stations available in your area. The app responds to the market dynamics as well, accumulating a single user’s history with SmartBike, based on state-of-the-art technologies such as Near Field Communication, Global Positioning Systems, Radio-frequency identification, solar power and mobile payment. At registration and first payment, the user is charged ₹500 which is then used as biking tariffs after which one can use their debit or credit cards.
“It also feels really good to see other people using Smartbike because it’s like building a community of like-minded people,” adds Vijay who regularly uses the service for running time-constrained errands. According to the team, “SmartBike will provide first and last mile connectivity to the Metro rail passenger making the city more eco-friendly. In all there will be 500 bike stations with inventory of 10,000 SmartBikes in Hyderabad.”
It’s a huge leap forward in encouraging an adherence to proper cycling etiquette as well; use of helmets, cycling in a single file and traffic-smarts — the list goes on. It’s a gradual progression of which we are already making the most.
Challenging issues
Cycles have replaced the swank bikes for the students. It is the most convenient mode of transport for the Central University students given the vast campus and colleges and hostels spread over. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf 12-02-2004
While some parts of the city have observed cycle-friendly revamps to the roads, there’s still a long way to go for the city itself to polish up the roads which haven’t been smoothed over— perhaps this is exactly what we need.
There are, of course, concerns of vandalism and potential complaints of ‘public clutter’ with numerous stations set up in essentially pedestrian areas.
Issues of privacy are also tacked on to notions of ‘last mile connectivity;’ the onset of data booms equates us being so connected, some would frankly find it invasive for a large corporation to know our exact movements down to the step. But netbike doesn’t seem to be collecting personal information from the rider, just the movements of their own cycles, which is at essence, a security concern.
So next time you walk past a SmartBike station, make the most of the developing frontiers and rent one if you have a few minutes to spare.
Check out the SmartBike’s Facebook .
