Bicycle sharing: Corpn now looks to Chennai for lessons

  • | Tuesday | 19th March, 2019

Now that the Greater Chennai Corporation has implemented the project, we are closely monitoring how it fares. It has created a negative image about the city, the official said.Another company, Metro Bikes, had come forward to implement the project at Vadavalli, where a lot of college students reside. We might take a leaf out of their model if it becomes a success.” “So, the project has been put on hold for a while. “The project was dear to us.

Coimbatore: The bicycle sharing system, which the civic body had launched at RS Puram last March with ambitious plans to expand it to other parts of the city in a phased manner, is currently in limbo with no cycle company coming forward to bid for the project for fear of losing their bicycles.“We wanted to implement the project across the city after introducing it at RS Puram, Saibaba Colony and Vadavalli on a pilot basis to understand the public response to the initiative. While the pilot project at RS Puram was successful in a way, we are struggling to find bidders for the remaining two places,” said a senior corporation official, requesting anonymity.While Ofo cycles, which implemented the project at RS Puram for three months, received encouraging response from the public, to the downside many bicycles were either stolen or vandalized. It has created a negative image about the city, the official said.Another company, Metro Bikes, had come forward to implement the project at Vadavalli, where a lot of college students reside. “The company had identified parking lots, made arrangements to bring more than 500 bicycles and finalized the charge per ride,” the official said.However, Metro Bikes backed off at the eleventh hour after the city corporation and the police department refused to be held accountable for the bicycles.RS Puram residents are, however, still nostalgic about the project. “The project was dear to us. I used to take bicycles for short trips. I really liked it as it brought back my childhood memories and I felt refreshed after cycling for half an hour,” said R Sujatha, a local resident.Acknowledging it as one of the useful projects, R Raveendran, of Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore, said, “The project would become 100% successful if the corporation lays bicycle tracks for a few kilometres as it is extremely difficult to cycle through congested roads.”The official, meanwhile, said though they had asked cycle companies to submit new expression of interest to implement the project on a pilot basis, there were no takers. “So, the project has been put on hold for a while. Now that the Greater Chennai Corporation has implemented the project, we are closely monitoring how it fares. We might take a leaf out of their model if it becomes a success.”

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