NEW DELHI: By the end of this year, Dwarka will have the biggest public bicycle sharing system in the national capital region, according to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). DDA has decided to introduce 5,500 state-of-the-art bicycles for which it will build around 100 kilometres of cycling tracks in the sub-city.
Tarun Kapoor, vice chairman of DDA, said that the authority has invited tenders from private operators to set up the network and provide the bicycles and also manage the sharing system.“Bid for the project has been invited. Hopefully, in three months, the process will be complete and in the next two months, the operator will be able to run the cycles,” he said.The project will be implemented in two phases for which 300 cycle stands with dock stations across Dwarka will be built.
The DDA will provide the space for setting up all the facilities.These stations will come up at public places frequented by people in large number such as markets, parks, and otherconvenient locations from where intended users can pick and drop the cycles without any hassle.A senior official, aware of the development, said that the agency is also considering building cycling corridors and walking tracks along metro lines inside Dwarka, and setting up kiosks under metro via duct.
“The Dwarka project will be implemented in two phases. In first phase, 2,500 cycles and 300 stands will be created. We have spaces at two places — Dwarka and Rohini and we chose Dwarka. This project is similar to the model adopted by the NDMC but the DDA is doing it on a much larger scale,” said the official.
The authority initiated the project based on a decision taken in November 2013 in a meeting of Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC). Thereafter, it held consultation with operators and other stakeholders in April 2015.
A High Powered Committee of the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) prepared a detailed action plan for transport improvements in Delhi in 2014, which recommended solutions to decongest the city and improve last mile connectivity putting special stress on a convenient cycle sharing system in Dwarka.
The DDA official added that in second phase, 3,000 more cycles will be procured.
Kapoor said that the private operator, to be engaged by the authority, will create a mobile application, through which the users will avail the service by registering themselves.“The user charges have not been fixed yet. Once the operator is finalised, the process for decide the rates for using bicycle will begin,” added the DDA vice chairman.
Another official of the DDA said charges for using the state-of-the-art bicycles are likely to be reasonable and nominal to attract users in large numbers.