Bhopal’s bike sharing concept starts a new trend in India

NEW DELHI: In a bid to encourage cycling among commuters and to fight pollution, congestion, cities are picking up the bicycle sharing concept. After setting a new trend by such a project in Bhopal, under the Centre’s Smart City Mission for last mile connectivity, other cities are also picking up this concept.

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry official said that there are around 30 similar programmes being undertaken to cross the country under the Smart City Mission, out of which about 20 are in various stages of finalizing detailed project report. “It will not only contribute to user’s health but to the environment”, he added.

With a fleet of around 500 bicycles, Bhopal had launched the nation’s first completely automated bicycle sharing programme in June 2017. Bicycle tracks had been laid on the 12km stretch of road and around 50 locations within the city where bicycles are placed and from where the customer can hire a bicycle using a phone app, which allows the users to register themselves, select a plan and pay for the same.

The Smart City Mission, launched on June 25, 2015, aims to develop 100 smart cities across the country in a five-year period and Rs 48,000 crore has been earmarked by the government for the development of these cities.Recently, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had pitched for promoting non-motorised transport infrastructure for walking and using bicycles which will not only act as the last mile connectivity for a well-established public transport system but also help in promoting health