Thirteen months after its launch in June 2017, the country’s first public bicycle sharing (PBS) system Trin Trin has clocked 10,000 registrations. The number crossed 10,000 on July 20.
Trin Trin used to attract about 600 people every month to its registration centres. “There was a lot of excitement during the first two-three months of the launch as people had to wait for months for the project to start,” said Asha Kerakatty, Manager, Green Wheel Ride, which is executing Trin Trin. Gradually, the number of registrations dropped to 500 every month and has now settled at around 400, she added.
Most of those registering for Trin Trin are locals. A small percentage of the users are tourists who had opted for short-term membership by downloading the Trin Trin app.
For regular registrations, people have to register at any of the six centres of Trin Trin at suburban bus stand, city bus stand, railway station, RTO, Mysuru zoo and Mysuru palace. The facility is also available at Mysuru One centres in the city.
People can register by showing either their Aadhaar, Driving License or Voters’ IDs, besides paying ₹360, which includes a refundable deposit of ₹250, processing fee of ₹50 and user fee of ₹60, which is valid for one month.
A short-term membership for tourists too has been launched under which people can download the app and become members by paying ₹150. “The short-term membership does not require members to submit copies of their Aadhaar or Voters IDs as the payment has to be made through credit or debit card for which KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure would have been done by the bank,” Ms. Kerakatty said.
The short-term members, who are not provided with a smart card, can dock and undock bicycles at docking stations with the help of the app. They only need to pay the user fee for the bicycles. The remainder of ₹150 can be refunded, she added.
Ridership crosses 1,352
Coinciding with its registrations crossing the 10,000 mark, Trin Trin’s ridership also reached 1,352 on Friday.
The ridership of Trin Trin, which was less than 1,000 rides per day till a couple of months ago, had crossed 1,100 in June this year before crossing 1,200 on July 17.
Late last week, the ridership crossed the 1,300 mark when the total number of riders for the day was recorded to be 1,352, sources said.
The rise has been attributed to the pleasant weather in Mysuru. “In contrast to hot days in summer, the weather is ideal for cycling. So, a lot of people may be opting to cycle,” said a source.
A perceptible increase in ridership was also recorded after three new docking stations were started near NIE – one each at old and new blocks – besides one at the railway workshop at Ashokapuram. Many students have started using Trin Trin bicycles after the three stations were started five to six months ago.
Despite the increase in ridership, Trin Trin does not foresee a shortage of bicycles at its docking station. A total of 450 bicycles are deployed at 48 stations.
Most of the rides happen during peak hours in the morning and evening. “No shortage of cycles has been noticed at the docking stations even at peak hours”, said Asha Kerakatty, Manager, Greenwheel Ride, which is executing Trin Trin.
Not only are the docking stations monitored by a team at the Trin Trin headquarters, they have a software alert system, which lets them know before such a situation arises. “We have a redistribution vehicle, which ensures that bicycles are more less equally distributed across the stations,” she said.
Trin Trin can neither afford to have all the docks at a station full as a user will need to have empty docks while returning the bicycle.
