After the success of the Public Bicycle Sharing System launched by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) in Nerul in November last year, CIDCO has now extended the scheme to Kharghar.
The inauguration took place on Sunday, after being postponed twice, with CIDCO MD Lokesh Chandra and chairman Prashant Thakur taking the lead to pedal on Kharghar’s streets. A formal announcement was made with the start of service from Central Park.
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CIDCO has kicked off the scheme with 70 cycles in seven locations and plans to increase the numbers to 300 cycles and 30 stations within the week. It plans to eventually extend the service to 100 cycle stations with 1,000 cycles.
“The operations are carried out by Yulu and CIDCO is only providing space for making the stations at a fixed nominal rent. The main intention of the scheme is to curb pollution and traffic congestion, reduce the carbon footprint and enhance the health index of residents. As of now the plan is to have stations only in Kharghar. In future, we may consider expanding it to other nodes under us,” Geetha Pillai, transport engineer, CIDCO, said.
According to officials, more than 100 people had used the service within 24 hours of its launch. CIDCO aims to cover all main junctions including railway stations, markets, bus stops, hospitals and the various sectors in Kharghar under the scheme.
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“Kharghar has a lot of fitness enthusiasts due to the space and greenery it offers. There are many morning joggers and walkers. Now cycling will also add to their routine. It will be a great idea to replace any kind of vehicle with Yulu cycles when one has to move around,” Mahesh Shinde, a fitness enthusiast from Kharghar, said.
The Public Bicycle Sharing System in Navi Mumbai was launched on November 1, 2018, in Nerul and has over one lakh users. Of these, close to 23,000 use the cycles daily by paying for a month. The NMMC too plans to extend the service to Belapur, Sanpada, Vashi, Koparkhairane, Ghansoli and Airoli by adding 50 stations soon.