CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) is poised to launch the first phase of the public bicycle sharing on August 15 in the city, a follow-up to the successful pilot programme called “Cycle for Change Challenge”.
A total of 1,250 bicycles — 800 have already arrived — at 155 docking stations will be available. The remaining will reach the city in the next few days.
A majority of the docking stations have been erected at commercial, tourist, educational and office sites. In residential areas too, the stations have been built. “There are some changes in the new bicycles. They are more comfortable. As the company has to run this project for 10 years, they were asked to take care of comfort of cyclists and other issues. The bicycles are coming on time, allowing the first phase kick-off on August 15,” a senior officer said.
Officials of the CSCL have been keeping an eye on all developments related to the launch. The company had sought additional time from the CSCL for the launch, making it all the more important to get things right on the date.
The pilot programme had started with 225 bicycles and 25 docking stations, including both battery-operated and manual. All the docking stations were selected keeping footfall in mind. Eight of them were in Sector 17 followed by four in Sector 22. Since both these place attract many residents, optimum bicycles were available in these two sectors.
