Trin Trin, the public bicycle sharing (PBS) initiative in Mysuru, is considering a proposal to offer short-term membership to tourists visiting the city.
Representatives of Green Wheel Ride, the third party vendor operating the PBS, are expected to discuss the matter with officials of Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and World Bank at a meeting in Hubballi on Tuesday before taking a decision. While DULT is monitoring the implementation of the PBS, World Bank has funded the project.
Presently, users have to register in any of the six registration centres in the city, where they will given a smart card on receipt of their address proof document and payment of ₹350, which includes a refundable security deposit of ₹250, processing fee for smart card of ₹50 and a user fee valid for one month of ₹50. With a view to encourage tourists in the city to make use of the Trin Trin bicycles to commute, the authorities are planning to make the registration process more tourist-friendly.
“We are planning to offer short-term membership to tourists visiting the city. The modalities will be discussed with officials from World Bank and DULT in Hubballi on Tuesday,” Sagar, Manager, Green Wheel Ride, told The Hindu.
The meeting in Hubballi is also expected to arrive at a decision on increasing the fleet of bicycles presently deployed for the PBS by either purchasing additional bicycles or using the 125 bicycles that have been kept in reserve. If the authorities offer a short-term membership for tourists, who are expected to visit the city in large numbers during Dasara, there is a possibility that the number of bicycles presently deployed will fall short.
Presently, a total of 450 bicycles, including 30 geared ones, had been deployed across 44 docking stations set up in different parts of the city. “There will be a lot of floating population during Dasara. We may have to increase the number of bicycles made available at the docking stations,” Mr. Sagar added.
The authorities are also planning to increase the number of docking stations by setting them up in areas that had been left out in the initial phase. People’s representatives, including councillors of different MCC wards, had appealed to the authorities to set up docking stations in their respective areas. Several areas such as Udayagiri, Vijayanagar, J.P. Nagar, Sathgalli, Alanahalli, etc do not have docking stations.