Chandigarh: Public bicycle sharing to kick off on Aug 12
The public bicycle sharing project is being developed in four phases and the target is to have 5,000 cycles available at 617 docking stations
The first phase of the public bicycle sharing project is all set to start from Thursday. UT administrator VP Singh Badnore will launch it from Shanti Kunj in Sector 16. As many as 1,250 bicycles, including pedal-assisted e-bikes, will be available at 155 docking stations.

Around 225 bicycles are already available following the city’s participation in the Union government sponsored Cycle4Change competition. After it ended in May, they were continued to be made available to the public for free.
Now, users will have to pay ₹10 per half an hour. Those availing of annual membership at ₹500 will have to pay ₹5 per half an hour. They will be able to borrow the bikes by registering on the ‘Smart Bike’ app. All of them are GPS-enabled and will be monitored from a command-and-control centre with 24x7 helpline facility.
Around nine cycles will be kept at every station. The major ones include Rock Garden, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Sukhna Lake, PGI and Sectors 17, 22, 34, 35 and 43.
The project is being developed in four phases of 1,250 cycles and 155 docking stations each. The ultimate target is to make available 5,000 cycles with a network of 617 stations.
App for tracking garbage collection vehicles to be launched
Badnore will on Thursday also launch a mobile app to track door-to-door garbage collection trucks. A solid waste management vehicle tracking and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) facility will also be made operational.
The project has come up at a cost of around ₹5.8 crore. Through SCADA, MC officials will be able to live monitor and track the movement and activity of the trucks on their monitor screens.
The system will let the officials know in real-time when the vehicle become stationary, for how long and for what reasons. In case the delay is because of the households, the system will allow garbage collectors to report it. They will also be able to register complaints against households who don’t give segregated garbage. The mileage will also be monitored.
The administrator will also launch the SCADA for the tertiary water supply, which is expected to improve the supply and minimise wastage.

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