Namma Metro

Bengaluru

POLL Should special cycling lanes and corridors be built in the city? Yes No Can't Say VOTE

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike

By Manoj Sharma2,000 cycles, 40 Metro stations... the transformation begins next weekThe bicycle-to-work idea may be becoming a reality, very soon. Yes, we know, we’ve said it again and again and again, but this time the state government and Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) has given us a date. The Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS), Namma Trin-Trin bicycles are all set to hit the streets from October 15 to ensure last mile connectivity to mainlyusers.The much-awaited project which will start next week will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in the last week of October for which the DULT has already written to CM’s office seeking his availability.What’s more is that theMetro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has agreed to allow parking and service of bicycles at all its 40 metro Stations.Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, an official from DULT said, “All the procedures that were pending are now closed and we will issue permission to one of the bicycle operators of three finalized operators on October 15. DULT will introduce about 2,000 bicycles for the two clusters we have identified,” he said.Speaking about the bicycles in Metro Stations, Murali Krishna, Special Officer, DULT said, “We had requested BMRCL many times before to allow the PBS service in at least seven to eight Metro stations. Now thanks to the new Managing Director of BMRCL Ajay Seth, he has permitted us to establish bicycle parking and service at all 40 Metro stations in the city.”Speaking about the availability of bicycles at Metro stations, Murali Krishna said, “As the parking space in Metro stations is plenty and available on two sides, DULT will ensure the availability of about 30 to 80 bicycles, based on availability of space. By this provision, commuters will be able to use cycles for last-mile connectivity. The permission by BMRCL in allowing bicycles in Metro stations will give us a big boost in promoting non-motorised transit. The official name of the PBS in the city will be Namma Trin-Trin,” he said.DULT has planned to introduce the project under two clusters of which, in the first zone, it has marked out 181 docking stations over 18.25 sq km. The areas include MG Road, Vidhana Soudha, Indiranagar, Banaswadi, HRBR Layout, HBR Layout, and Kacharakanahalli, which will have 3,148 bicycles (actual numbers as per plan). In the second zone, there will be 164 docking stations over 10 sq km. The areas covered include Koramangala and HSR Layout, and will have 2,852 bicycles (actual number as per plan).Sources from DULT said that they would write to the(BBMP) as part of issuing permission for the go ahead in the matter of constructing around 350 PBS parking hubs (36m x 4m in size, approx.) that have been identified in each location in the current phase. A few more will be identified shortly.Each docking station would be able to accommodate between 12 to 48 cycles, and DULT hopes to have one station in a radius of 300 to 500 metres. It has also proposed an Open Street Day and Bicycle Day after the project has been inaugurated.Speaking about the parking hub facilities, Murali Krishna said, “We will write to the BBMP to construct for us parking hubs for the project in the next week and we expect that all 400 parking hubs in first and second clusters will be ready in the next ten months.Even the docking stations will come up in the name of Namma Trin-Trin parking stations. Services will start in the city and at all 40 metro stations on October 15, the day we will issue permit order for one of the three bicycle operators. Orders will be issued to the other two operators in the same week on different dates. Apart from them, there are six other operators who have been finalized and the formalities are under way. They will also start the operation in another two months. With this, Bengalureans can expect at least 6,000 bicycles soon,” he said.However, speaking about the rates, Murali Krishna said, “The bicycle fares will be similar to the rates in Mysuru. However, we are still discussing this and haven’t reached a final figure. Operators may also provide some attractive offers initially to make the service popular.” (The existing bicycle system in Mysuru has three different tariffs. In the membership-based method starting from 10 days (Rs 20) to 1 year (Rs 600) is the registration fee. Non-registered members can access Trin-Trin bicycles free of cost for first 30 minutes, Rs 5 for next 30 to 60 minutes and up to and more than 12 hours a day at Rs 245. )DULT is taking up the project with the approved amount of Rs 80.18 crore. 25 per cent of the project capital must be spent in the financial year 2017-18 and another 25 per cent in financial year 2018-19.The remaining funds are to be spent by state government in 2018-19. The agency has estimated the maintenance cost of the project to be around Rs 26.17 crore in five years and expects about Rs 27.02 crore revenue through advertisement boards at docking stations, smart cards and advertisements on bicycles in the five years.