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Can dedicated cycle lanes power the Pune bicycle plan?
Vandalism cases have come down by 90 per cent due to police action and awareness created
The ambitious public bicycle sharing plan launched by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in December 2017 is facing challenges with the number of riders coming down drastically even as new bicycles have been added to the system in the past few months. According to PMC authorities, the only silver lining is that the number of vandalism cases has come down by 90 per cent.
Although the PMC’s bicycle department claims that there are atleast 6,000 bicycles, provided by two ride-sharing firms on road, the average usage of them have come down to 40 per cent from 70 per cent, a year ago.
The average ride per day, according to officials, has come down from six to eight rides per cycle a day, 10 months back to 2-3 rides now. The numbers have come at a time when PMC has added new footpaths and have widened a few in parts of the city under the Pune Smart City programme.
During the second week of February, HT spent more than an hour at Jungli Maharaj (JM) road, Bhandarkar road and Law College road, where maximum number of bicycles by vendors Yulu and Mobike have been set up. Most bicycles, as HT noted, were lying unused while one or two were hired by youngsters for short distance travel. HT observed that they were wanting to use it for fun.
Pawan Gavhane, student, Modern College, was excited about hiring the bicycle owned by Mobike which was parked near Sambhaji Park.
“This is the first time I am using this bicycle. I wanted to try it out for fun. The cycle is nice but the app does not get downloaded instantly.
Akash Deshmukh, a student of SPPU, who lives in a hostel on Jungli Maharaj road said that he was using the bicycles when the rental cost was cheaper. “Initially when the plan was launched, the price for an hour was ₹1. It was raised to ₹3 , after three months. The rental price is close to ₹150 per month and it not cost effective for us, students. Though the idea of sharing a bicycle is good, the cost is too high. More people will use the bicycles if the cost per hour is reduced.”
Initially when PMC launched the public bicycle sharing programme, the rental was ₹1 per hour. However, the civic body increased it to ₹3 per hour within three months, which residents have found to be “expensive”. The users also said that lack of dedicated tracks on the roads is another reason for less ridership. When PMC launched the programme, within months, four players - Mobike, Yulu, Pedl, OFO became part oof it. However, two Pedle and OFO have now opted out, bringing down the total number of bicycles from 8,000 to 6,000.
Akshay Gaikwad, entrepreneur, said he still uses the bicycle, but for a shorter duration. “You can’t take the cycle for long distance travel as it is heavy and is difficult for riding over slopes. The wheels are not free moving. When we connect to the online app, it sometimes shows that cycle has been already booked or has gone for repairs, although the cycle is in front of us. After spending a few minutes trying to find another cycle, I either decide to walk or just wait for the bus to reach our destination,”he said.
Prakash Prajapati who owns a medical shop on Law college road said that he was hiring the shared cycle and was using it for home delivery of medicines in the area.
“It was cheaper when the rent cost was ₹1 but now when it is ₹ per hour it is not affordable. Instead of spending ₹50 to 60 per day on this, I have bought a second-hand bicycle for less than ₹ 3,000,” he said.
Narendra Salunkhe, Superintendent Engineer (projects) and incharge of Pune Bicycle plan, said, “Even as the ridership has come down to 40% from 70%, we still consider it as a positive sign. We hope that the ridership will increase only if we have a fully developed cycle path in the city.The cases of vandalism have come down by 90 per cent due to the awareness created and the strict action taken by the police against vandals. ”
Greg Moran, CEO, Zoomcar Pedl said, “We had to temporarily halt our services in Pune as defects were detected in the cycles. We are trying to introduce better durable bicycles for people who want to use it for long distance riding.”
Sanskriti Menon, senior programme director, Centre for Environment Education said, “The cycle tracks cannot be constructed immediately as the roads will be dug up for laying 24*7 water supply pipeline network in parts of the city. In some places, cycles are moved away to accommodate two-wheeler parking. The bicycle department should address vandalism and continue promoting the bicycle plan. Also, in the newer tracks that are being created at Satara road, Jungli Maharaj road, FC road, Ganeshkhind road (from Bremen chowk to University circle), rules must be defined to ensure that two-wheelerss don’t use the path.”
