Ofo bicycle share rolled out on DTU campus

Students and teachers of the Delhi Technological University (DTU) can pedal to their destinations on the 164-acre campus, a facility that was launched on Wednesday after the varsity partnered with an app-based bicycle-sharing platform.

'Ofo', claimed to be the largest bicycle-sharing platform across the world operated through a mobile application, will deploy 150 bicycles on the DTU campus, giving students and staff a convenient and environment-friendly alternative for commute on the campus, a statement issued by Beijing-based company said.

“Riders will be able to pick up and drop Ofo bicycles from anywhere within the university premises to either travel from their hostel to classes or to traverse different departments, without having to resort to motorised vehicles,” it said.

DTU vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh, in the statement said, “I am very thankful to Ofo who are promoting this initiative in the university. We would take all initiatives to encourage bicycling on the campus.”

The technology-enabled bicycles are accessible through a mobile application. Features like night illumination make the bicycles usable 24x7.

A user has to open the app to find all the bicycles in the vicinity. Then the user has to tap the unlock button and scan the QR code to automatically unlock the bicycle. At the destination, one has to park the bicycle and manually lock it to end the trip.