Hire bicycle on rent to roam around Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar: Creating a new trend to reduce vehicular pollution, Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) is all set to introduce ‘Public Bicycle Sharing’ programme encouraging the denizens to prefer non-motorised transport system.

Under the programme, people can take a bicycle on rent to roam around the city under Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The system will be introduced ensuring people reach home easily from railway stations, bus stoppages and auto stands.

The programme will be implemented by January 2018 in the capital city.

The pre bidding meeting will be held on Nov 21. While the tender process will be completed by December, the bicycles will be made available to public on rent from January next year, BSCL said.

Initially, 1,000 bicycles will be introduced with 70 docking stations across the city. The user will not have to pay for first 30-minute ride, afterwards the charge will be minimal.

The locations have been identified for cycle docking stations in Old Bhubaneswar, Infocity, Nandankanan, Master Canteen, Vani Vihar, AIIMS and Pahal area where the bicycles can be parked.

The authorities have decided to keep the distance among docking stations at least 2 km or 500 mt depending on the situation.

There will be parking yards for bicycles hired from the docking stations and parallel cycle tracks on roads. A rider can visit a docking station and hire a bicycle to reach the destinations.

A rider will not have to make cash payment to hire a bicycle, which will be tagged by RFID. The cycles will come up with GPS for tracking it in case of theft.