The Free Press Journal

Highdemand­fore-bikeservic­eexpansion­incity

- SWEETY ADIMULAM Mumbai

After receiving favorable response in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the public electric-bike (e-bike) service is grabbing attention of the citizens and local politician­s who are demanding to expand service to other commercial places in city also. One such demand has been made by an Andheri-based leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shekhar Tawade, for the SEEPZ,

MIDC office goers.

Tawade told the Free Press Journal, "Thousands of offices located here, where over a lakh people work. They commute daily by trains, BEST bus, auto rickshaw and taxi. Introducin­g the e-bike will act as one more alternate for them. Moreover, it is cheaper and an eco-friendly commuting option and also makes travelling easy during congestion."

At present, the e-bike service at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is being operated by a private operator, Yulu. With existing 400 e-bikes at BKC having 18-19 zones, the operator has successful­ly completed 30,871 trips in January and added 10,662 new users to its service.

The number of trips and new users has been increasing substantia­lly like in September 2020 only 6,547 total trips were made and 2,375 new users were added, which now increased by manifolds as per the data obtained from Yulu. From September till January, a total of 47,251 kg of carbon emission was saved, the data further indicates.

A Yulu spokespers­on said, "We will strengthen our partnershi­p with the existing authoritie­s in Mumbai along with corporates and citizens and towards the end of this year we will deploy at least 10,000 e-bikes in city alone."

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