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One foot on the pedal, one out the door
Users of the UT’s ambitious public bike sharing lament the admn losing interest in carrying it forward with the enthusiasm with which it was launched, noting that the infra needed for smooth functioning is now lacking. In this five-part series, HT looks at the smart solutions (or the lack thereof) that the most-publicised of the 97 projects launched in the UT under the Centre’s flagship Smart City Mission have delivered on the ground
London-based filmmaker Jacob Lee was in the City Beautiful last week. And much like most first-time visitors, he was sure to start his day with a run along Sukhna Lake. To his surprise, the visit to the city landmark transported him to the proverbial English summer — albeit one made more enjoyable by the presence of Lime and Santander bikes that have made commuting in his home country ever-so easy.
The smart bike station across the road from the Sukhna Lake trail stood out for him.
“I quickly went over, read the instructions at the stations and was able to access the bikes. I was quite pleased to see the stations at all important city landmarks, but the conditions of the bikes left me a little disheartened. Many bikes had broken baskets, locks, pedals and stands. I also notice a lack of public interest, hardly seeing any people using them,” Lee said, hinting that the poor state of the bikes may be to blame.
The British filmmaker is not the only rider who sees multiple problems with the Chandigarh Smart City Limited’s (CSCL) public bike sharing (PBS) project.
The vision of a pollution free city and eco-friendly way of living in mind, the public bike sharing project was launched in December 2020 with a pilot phase comprising 250 bicycles and 25 docking stations.
Phase 1 followed in August 2021 with 1,250 bicycles and 155 docking stations and Phase 2 was rolled out in February 2022 with the addition of another 1,250 bikes to the fleet. January 2023 saw the launch of the latest Phase 3, which has now brought the total number of bikes to 3,485 at 465 docking stations across the city.
The fourth and final phase is yet to be launched and envisions taking the total to 5,000 across 614 docking stations.
The massive public transport system now covers the entire city boundary, with the cycle track stretching 227 km. Each bike is equipped with GPS technology to allow users to keep track of availability at docking stations in real-time through SmartBike, a mobile app, which allows users to register, create accounts and manage their bike-sharing activities, including tracking usage history and payment details.
A user can pick up a cycle at a cost of ₹10 for half an hour from any of the docking stations, while the charge drops to ₹5 per half an hour for those with the annual membership of ₹500. The rental bikes are equipped with safety features like front and rear lights, bells and reflective materials to ensure visibility and promote safety during the rides.
Being run on a public-private partnership, the project has no financial connection with the CSCL and capital and operating expenditure is borne by the concessionaire. The project duration was set at 11-and-a-half years (one-and-a-half years of construction period and 10 years of operation and maintenance). It, however, missed multiple deadlines as the agency sought multiple extensions citing mounting losses — primarily caused by vandalism of smart bikes and lack of advertisers.
Loose nuts and bolts
Vikram, a 28-year old city resident, is a regular user of the smart bikes. Though he believes this is a great initiative, he also believes that the lesser be said about the infra and management the better. “The smart bike mobile app, which helps users book the ride, always has technical glitches. The usage tracking timer, which calculates the cost one has to pay at the end of the ride, starts immediately but the bike often doesn’t unlock. In that case, one can neither use the bike nor end the ride. These negative experiences with the app have caused many people to stop using the smart bikes.”
Users have complained of similar technical glitches in the mobile app, poor internet connectivity to use the bike, vandalism or poor maintenance of bikes, pothole filled cycle tracks, poor demarcation of cycle tracks along main roads of the city, lack of street-lights across the tracks and so on.
Charvi Sharma, a resident of Sector 41, said, “On Sundays, I love to ride along the Sukhna Lake because of the breathtaking views and well-laid cycle tracks. But on the weekdays, I ride along V-6 roads, only to get disappointed with the cycle tracks. The ones in the city’s southern sectors especially have potholes, overflowing sewage, poor lighting and garbage. The ones in northern sectors are better off, but that hardly cuts it.”
CSCL data shows that the number of people registered as “members” has been on a decline in recent years. In the inaugural 2020, 14,132 people opted for yearly memberships. The number rose 10-fold to 1,47,373 in 2021, but has been dropping steeply since. It came down to 1,31,607 in 2022, 90,176 in 2023 before plummeting to 34,174 this year so far.
The number of total active users has followed a similar trajectory, with 5,694 users getting on board in 2020, going up to 2,81,160 in 2021 and 4,96,424 in 2022 before beginning to drop. The figure came down to 2,38,700 in 2023 and now stands at 77,193.
Seeing green
Smart City chief executive officer (CEO) Anindita Mitra’s belief in the project remains steadfast.
“The public bike-sharing systems provide a convenient and eco-friendly transportation option, enhancing mobility for residents and visitors alike. So far, the project has gained 4,17,462-plus registered users, while 10,99,171-plus rides covering 43,96,684 km have been taken so far. On average, there are 1,200 rides per day”, she says, adding that the modal shift from motorised to non-motorised transportation saw the city’s carbon dioxide emission drop by 1,100-plus tonne and saved 3.6 lakh litre of fuel.
Mitra acknowledges the complaints of bicycle thefts and vandalism, but says a comprehensive response is being planned. “We are planning to install CCTVs at vulnerable places. Though we run regular campaigns to encourage people to use bicycles, the usage is voluntary. There are few docking stations where usage is very low and at many places, the response is great. We are also working on setting up the remaining 31 docking stations in the city,” she adds.
Official data, meanwhile, shows that 892 bicycles are lying unusable after being vandalised at present, while another 282 have been lost to thefts.
According to CSCL officials, around 60% of the riders are between the age group of 20 to 30 years. An overwhelming 80%, meanwhile, are men.
Changing lanes
Akshit Passi, founder of city based cyclist club Cyclegiri, says ensuring the upkeep of cycle tracks, enhanced surveillance at key spots and punitive measures for vandalism and theft was the administration’s responsibility and cannot be shrugged off.
“The authorities concerned must also organise more campaigns to attract riders and need to come up with out-of-the-box ideas to encourage people. A token discount on shopping if the buyer is riding a bicycle to the store is one idea that springs to mind,” he says.
National Road Safety Council member Kamaljeet Singh Soi also emphasises on the potential of the project but wants the execution to be better, saying “The bicycles are a sustainable transportation system, but as it stands, it is not really helping manage the traffic in Chandigarh better. This is because the bikes are mostly being used by the labour class or those looking for leisurely rides.
Unless people are encouraged to take biking up as a routine mode of transportation, be it offices or trips to the local markets or for running an errand, the project, he says, is unlikely to have a meaningful impact.
