BBMP plans to introduce cycle-sharing in Bengaluru

If all goes well, citizens may soon be able to hop off the metro and ride a bicycle to get to their destination. The BBMP and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport have started working towards a public bicycle-sharing system, similar to the Trin Trin project in Mysuru. Areas in the central business district as well as metro stations are likely to get the first docking stations, DULT officials have said.

According to BBMP officials, the civic body and the DULT will put in place the infrastructure and dedicated cycling tracks after identifying suitable areas, while the manufacturer is expected to provide the bicycles.

“A final survey has been completed and the project is before the State government for clearance,” said Special Officer for DULT N. Murali Krishna. “We are not waiting for ideal situation of creating lanes and then introducing cycles. For instance, cycle sharing is feasible in the Cubbon Park surroundings without waiting for dedicated lanes. We are identifying footpaths and government land where dedicated tracks can come up,” he added.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said the focus was on providing last-mile connectivity to metro stations. “We will be looking at commute to IT parks in Whitefield from nearest metro stations,” said Mr. Prasad.

Sathya Sankaran, co-founder of the civic NGO Praja RAAG, who is a proponent of cycling, said a public cycle-sharing system was extremely important to reduce traffic congestion. “It is important to flood the city with cycles. Shanghai alone has one lakh cycles under its public bicycle system,” said Mr. Sankaran.

The Trin Trin project was launched in Mysuru on June 4 and 450 bicycles have been made available in the city initially. Under the project, citizens can pick a bicycle from one of the 48 docking stations across the city and drop them off at another.