KOLKATA: World Health Day was observed in New Town on Wednesday where 100 e-bikes were introduced as part of the ongoing public cycle sharing scheme that is operating in New Town. The e-bikes will be operated by an app aggregator firm adding to the existing fleet of 100 app-based cycles that were reintroduced in the township last year.
The e-bikes has a range of 60 km per charge after which the firm, which is operating the e-bikes, will change its battery. The user will have to download the App to use the e-bikes. The e-bikes has a top speed of 25 km per hour. The unlocking charge is Rs 5 and riding charge is 50 paisa per minute or Rs 30 for per hour.
Hidco and NKDA chairman Debashis Sen who was present on the occasion said over 4,000 people have registered for the App based public cycle sharing scheme. “We are encouraging people on ‘World Health Day’ to ride cycles and e-bikes as much as possible instead of buses and autos where the chance of Covid infection is very high,” he said.
New Town was recently shortlisted among the country’s top 25 cycle friendly cities. As per surveys, the number of women cyclists have been found to have increased by 200%, partly due to the cycle training sessions on Sundays.