Coimbatore: As residents show huge response to the bicycle sharing system, the Coimbatore Corporation plans to bring in more players into the market and increase the number of cycles in the city.
Currently, Ofo India has brought in 2,000 cycles for R S Puram area, the largest number of cycles by any company for one city.
According to city corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan, Mobike, a Chinese company, and Pedl of Zoom cars will soon bring in their cycles too. “Several companies came forward expressing their interest and the board has sanctioned it. Very soon, these companies will conduct field study and set up the bicycle sharing system across the city,” he said. The corporation commissioner said that ministry of housing and urban affairs has shared the Coimbatore’s bicycle sharing model with 25 other cities in the country.
Various locations such as Saibaba colony, Race course, Sarvanampatti will be selected for this.
Meanwhile, Ofo has been facing problems with some people of damaging and vandalizing their cycles. “A man who was trying to transport the cycle has been identified and we have taken legal action against the person. We want to thank the citizens of Coimbatore for helping us and keeping a strict vigil on such threats,” said Rajarshi Rakesh Sahai, director, public policy and communications, Ofo India.
He added that the city had immense potential for expansion of the bicycle sharing system. “People from all locations are using the cycles proving that there is a need for this system in the city. Coimbatore has been extremely positive and shown unprecedented response to this,” he said.
As per company executives, 1.5% of the total cycles were damaged after one month’s of its launch. Every day 2% of the cycles require minor repairs. “One bicycle that was vandalized beyond repair in which the user painted it brown has also been recovered. We will tighten the controls further and create awareness. Police action will also be taken on repeated offenders,” said an executive. Currently, a deposit of Rs99 is sought from the user to ride the cycles.
