Bengaluru: After a long delay, the city finally gets its Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system, Trin Trin. Though PBS had been approved by the Cabinet, BBMP and city traffic police, the environmentally-friendly initiative had not been launched due to various reasons. But on Monday, it was inaugurated by CM H.D. Kumaraswamy.
The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), which was working on PBS, said that it is a flexible form of personal public transport, where a user can take out the cycle from a parking location or a station, use it for a short ride and return it to a parking location closest to his or her destination. Cycles are available at various parking locations, which are planned in a closely spaced network to facilitate easy pickup and drop-off points.
PBS will be dock-less model, where multiple private operators will offer their service at various locations. The system will be operated through apps provided by service providers. Cycles can be located and unlocked using mobile phone apps and will be charged based on the duration of usage.
In the first phase, DULT identified over 400 parking spots in Koramangala, HSR Layout, Indiranagar, Vidhana Soudha, Central Business District areas and at all Metro stations. Currently, there are 3,000 cycles and will soon be expanded to 6,000 cycles and to other areas of the city.
A senior DULT officer said, “We have issued permits to four operators – Yulu, Pedl by Zoomcar, Lejonet and Bounce. The project will be handled by the newly formed Karnataka Non-Motorised Transport Agency (KNMTA). The government is also planning to expand PBS to places where tech parks and industries are located. They are also discussing about implementing cycle tracks.”
The BBMP has already started working on cycle tracks and earmarked the lanes. A senior Palike officer said, “We are working on a plan to build 72 km of dedicated cycle lanes. From our side, we are ready to execute, but we need funds and had asked the government for it. They are yet to respond. Once, we get funding the project can be completed within six months.”
The city traffic police have directed all their personnel to ensure that no vehicle is parked at cycle docking locations. “If we find any other vehicle apart from bicycles parked in these designated spots, we will tow away the vehicles. Motorist should give the right of way to cyclists. Cyclists too should be careful while riding on busy roads and they should try sticking to left side of the roads, which is safe. Once the cycle tracks are ready, we can implement more ways to ensure their safety,” a senior police officer said.
