Days before the launch of India’s first public bicycle sharing (PBS) initiative Trin Trin, the authorities were shocked to find a bicycle stolen from the docking station at Lingaiah Circle in Ashokapuram in the city.
The bicycle has been wrested out of the docking station by force and taken away, said Assistant Commissioner of Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) Zone 2 Javare Gowda, who is also the nodal officer for Trin Trin.
“CCTV cameras installed at the docking station had captured visuals of the miscreant carrying out the act around midnight on March 16. We have lodged a complaint with the Ashokapuram police station and provided them the CCTV footage”, Mr. Gowda added.
A total of 450 bicycles will be deployed for public use at 48 docking stations as part of the PBS. With the docking stations envisaged to remain unmanned as part of the project, the theft of the bicycle has come as a dampener to the authorities.
Under the electronic procedure envisaged for taking the bicycles on rent, the user will have to place the smartcard on the reader next to the docked cycle and secure its release. Even while returning the bicycle, the user will have to slide the bicycle clip into an empty dock, which will indicate completion of the transaction on the reader.
“We are sad because it is such a good project for the benefit of people of Mysuru”, said a representative of Green Wheel Ride, a Mysuru-based company, which will be operating the PBS. The bicycles will have to remain in the docking station overnight as the PBS operates from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Mysuru Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep told The Hindu that CCTV cameras should act as a deterrent to miscreants. “It is a different matter if it is one stray incident. If it continues, we have to consider deploying patrol near the docking stations.” A formal request in the regard should come from the vendor, Green Wheel Ride, and Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), which is implementing the project, he added.
