The Indian Institute of Technology — Madras (IIT-M) is testing a cycle-sharing model to coincide with the cultural and tech fest programmes to be held on the campus shortly.
“Students who return after holidays often find that their cycles need overhauling. We had a person come to the campus to service the cycles but often they could not be repaired,” said S. Sivakumar, dean of students.
The idea of bike sharing was mooted. An Internet search for smart locks for cycles led them to Torq, a company that uses GPS tracking system and a QR code in its app to unlock cycles. “There are 10,000 students and 8,000 faculty and though not all use cycles, it is easy to get around from hostel to the department,” said Ashwanth Monian, hostel affairs secretary.
After introducing the bike-sharing concept, there are currently three vendors on the campus — Zoomcar, Torq and Ola — and together they offer around 280 cycles. “The model would be reviewed in January after which a formal tender process would be followed to take it forward,” said Mr. Sivakumar.
Rushali Khandelwal, senior manager of Zoomcar, said there was an overwhelming response to PEDL. They receive 600 bookings daily for the 100 cycles on the campus. She attributed the demand to the ease of booking by paying via Paytm and the QR code lock for cycles.
Expansion plan
Once a buoyant market for bicycles, the city is now dominated by motorised two-wheelers and the Corporation’s cycle sharing plan is yet to take off.
Encouraged by the IIT-M success, the PEDL plans to expand base in the city by tying up with universities, housing societies and information technology parks. Ms. Khandelwal said, “We are in talks with many of these institutions through the PEDL Host process. PEDL already has a presence in Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata.”
To become a ‘host,’ an individual must offer physical space. In turn, Zoomcar would provide several benefits, she said.
