Directorate of Urban Land Transport will set up a pedal-assisted -bicycles system in Malleshwaram, Bangaluru, to improve the Public Bicycle Sharing

The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) will install a pedal assisted bicycles (e-bicycles) system in Malleshwaram to enhance the Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system in Bengaluru. A request for expressions of interest (EOI) for the establishment of an electric PBS system to serve wards 45 and 55 in the Malleshwaram neighbourhood was recently made by the DULT. The main goal of installing the e-bike system, according to DULT authorities, is to address the connection issues for the first and final mile inside the neighbourhood.

In order to develop sustainable, inclusive, and smart mobility solutions through a multi-stakeholder platform, the DULT is working with Bosch Ltd. and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a German development agency, on this, according to the EOI document. Operators should have three years following installation to express interest. The fundamental components of electric bicycles, according to DULT, are unisex designs, tough, lightweight, theft-proof rims, puncture-resistant tyres, light reflectors, and LED lights to increase nighttime visibility for cars.

Only 1.42% of individuals chose bicycles as their primary means of transportation in the city, according to a recent Personal2Public (P2P) study published by NGOs including the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) and WRI India. According to the survey, cycling trips last an average of 6.36 km and take between 30 and 45 minutes to complete. Approximately 0.78 percent of current transit passengers say they prefer to bike to the closest bus or metro station.

Half of the P2P survey respondents reside within 3 kilometres of a metro station. Of those, 22% already have a bicycle. We will be able to solve the first-mile problem at no additional expense compared to any other shared mode if Metro provides secure bicycle parking in metro stations. We could have solved end-mile problems for the thousands of people who use the metro every day at the lowest cost, most effective, and carbon-neutral way if businesses within three kilometres of a metro station offered shared bicycles to employees on the other end that could be parked in the metro stations, according to Sathya Sankaran, Council for Active Mobility and Bicycle Mayor Bengaluru.