More e-bikes on offer as Cycle on Rent catches on

NMMC to add 100 more cycle stands by Diwali to encourage residents to hire two-wheeler

NAVI MUMBAI: The ‘Cycle on Rent’ initiative started by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has received a good response with more than 6,000 residents using these cycles – both e-bikes and traditional bicycles – on a weekly basis.

The NMMC has installed 100 stands across the city with a total of 700 cycles used by more than 1.5 lakh people in the last three years. NMMC will make these cycles available at 200 spots across the city from Diwali.

With the hike in fuel prices in recent times, more and more people, especially delivery executives, are using these bicycles for intra-city travel, a senior officer said. Many residents even use them for exercising or doing small chores.

Nandita Kulkarni, a 37-yearold homemaker from SBI Colony in Nerul, said, “I have been using a rental bicycle service near Wonders Park in the afternoons four to five days a week. It has been fun as a few other women from my building also join me. I started cycling at the start of this year and have lost a few kilos in the past few months. I feel much energetic now. I spend around ₹400-500 monthly on these cycles.”

NMMC started the ‘Cycle on Rent’ project in association with start-up Yulu in November 2018. Travelling on a rental bicycle is relatively cheaper than the other modes of transport in Navi Mumbai. A user can rent a bicycle for 30 minutes by paying ₹10.

After that, he has to pay ₹5 for every 30 minutes. Likewise, the base rent for an e-bike is ₹5 and then he has to pay ₹1.50 for every minute. NMMC has different packages for the food delivery start-ups who use them on a daily basis.

Rajesh Kanade, deputy municipal commissioner of NMMC (estate), said, “Presently, we are offering this service at 100 places in partnership with just one start-up (Yulu) and all the bicycles and e-bikes are single seaters. We are now in the process of introducing the services at another 100 places in partnership with two other start-ups. In the second initiative, we will have only e-bikes and they will be double-seaters. The new e-bikes should hit the city roads before Diwali.

“By introducing such bicycles and e-bikes, we are trying to decrease the pollution level and implement the central government’s ‘last mile connectivity’ scheme in the city. For example, hundreds of people travel from Turbhe railway station to the APMC market in Vashi every day. If we start one stand (of bicycles and e-bikes) near the station and one stand near the market, those people will be able to use them for to-and-fro travel. Also, we don’t have to spend much on them as their maintenance is taken care of by the respective start-ups.”

A representative from Yulu said that presently they are providing services in Navi Mumbai, Thane, BKC, and Kharghar (which comes under PCMC). Among these places, they are receiving maximum response in Navi Mumbai. “One bicycle or e-bike is rented up to four times a day in Navi Mumbai. They are fitted with GPS and hence we can easily track their locations in case the users do not return them on time,” he said.

Bhupal Singh, 36, a resident of Vashi said, “I have been using these rental bicycles for the past two years and find it convenient. You can easily go from one place to another on these cycles by paying ₹20 to ₹25. For travelling the same distance in an auto rickshaw, you may have to shell out more than ₹100.”

Rental bicycles to be available at 200 places in Navi Mumbai from Diwali as 100 more stands will be added like this one in Vashi.