The operations of State-run public bicycle sharing (PBS) system Trin Trin in Mysuru, which had been suspended in view of the lockdown, have resumed.
All 450 bicycles, which had been taken away on March 19 amid growing concerns over COVID-19, have made a return to the 50 docking stations spread across the City after undergoing cleaning and sanitization.
Though operations resumed on June 1, the ridership is yet to pick up. “Most of the customers are students and since schools and colleges are still closed, the ridership is limited”, said Ms Asha Kerakatty, Manager of Green Wheel Ride, the private agency implementing the project.
Referring to concerns expressed by certain users over the absence of measures to sanitize the cycles after every use, Ms Kerakatty said they are planning to keep sanitisers at the docking stations. “We were planning to keep sanitising wipes, but dropped the idea fearing it may lead to a mess around the docking stations. We are thinking about keeping contact-less sanitiser containers,” she said.
However, users are also recommended to clean their hands with their own sanitisers before and after using the bicycles.
Ms Keratatty also hoped that the network issues Trin Trin was facing ever since operations resumed on June 1 will be resolved soon. A few users were unable to undock the cycles due to network issues and had complained about the same to the authorities. “We should be able to resolve it in a day or two,” she said.
Meanwhile, the mini pick-up trucks used for redistribution of bicycles from one docking station to another, which had been crushed when a tree fell on them at their designated parking area in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Zone 2 office in Krishnamurthy puram last month, were still undergoing repairs. The authorities, however, made alternate arrangements to shift the bicycles to the docking stations.
A day before completing three years on June 4, Trin Trin has recorded almost 14,000 registrations. The daily ridership in January and February this year ranged between 1,200 to almost 1,400 rides per day.
Though the response for the bicycles has remained muted ever since operations resumed, the authorities are also looking forward to an increase in the popularity of Trin Trin in the coming days with people preferring cycling not only to boost their fitness and immunity, but also to avoid public transport so that social distancing can be maintained.
