The Puducherry Smart City Development Limited (PSCDL) has issued a ‘Letter of Award’ to a private firm to implement a bicycle sharing scheme. The private firm, selected through global tenders has been given a week’s time to submit a bank guarantee following which work orders will be issued for the project.
The firm will be implementing the much-awaited project initially through 10 locations in the city including Beach Promenade, Bussy Street, Anna Salai, Subbiah Salai and Grand Canal. The bicycle sharing scheme is among the 22 prioritised projects worth ₹493.51 crore, out of the 63 projects listed in the smart city proposal approved by the City Level Advisory Forum.
The ambitious project envisages an exclusive bicycle track of 10.3 km in the Area Based Development component of the smart cities mission.
“To start with, the operator will establish around 20 docking stations with 10 to 15 cycles in each station. PSCDL will devise the working model in consultation with the operator and develop a mobile application to enable registered users to hire bicycles,” Arjun Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of PSCDL said.
The operator will develop an electronic money transfer application system. The bicycles will be equipped with smart locks which will open with a scanning code. Registered users or customers need to pay a nominal fee on an hourly basis through their mobile wallet to unlock the bicycle and leave it at any of the designated docking stations in the Boulevard, he said.
The custom-made bicycles will be a mix of regular bicycles and e-cycles. The cycles will be equipped with GPS and can be tracked for their availability at the nearest docking stations. The docking stations will be set up on land belonging to the Municipality, and a portion of the revenue will go back to the local body. The operator will be in charge of maintenance of the bicycles.
“We will encourage people to use these cycles in line with the emphasis of the government to go for public transport,” Mr. Sharma added.
