Firdous Hassan
Srinagar: Every time Saleem Ahmad Wani left for his office, he would end up spending almost half an hour in a traffic jam.
This had become a routine for him till last week when he started using the bicycle service introduced by the government earlier this month.
“It has saved my time as well as money. I hire a bike and take the shortest route to my office. The majority of my colleagues have now started using this service,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir administration’s move to introduce green transport in Srinagar has witnessed tremendous response. In the first 15 days, more than 15000 people have used bicycles to commute within the city.
On May 4, the Jammu and Kashmir administration as a part of the Smart City Mission introduced Chartered Bikes- bicycles, in Srinagar as a mode of transport to reduce pollution and overcome traffic snarls.
Since then, the officials said, the majority of the people have been taking support of these bicycle services to commute from one place to another.
Mohammad Yasir Shah, a Srinagar-based official of Chartered Bikes, told The Kashmir Monitor that over 15000 customers registered themselves with the app.
“This means that these 15000 people have used our services in the last two weeks. We are witnessing a tremendous response and even better compared to other cities,” Shah said.
He said on average 1100-1200 people book bicycle rides in the city every day. “Right now, it is 10:30 am, and already 400 people have used these bikes. Every day, we get almost 1100-1200 people using these bikes to commute,” Shah said.
Officials have established 80 stations across the city wherein a person can book a ride to another destination.
“More stations will be established. We have identified 20 spots wherein stations will be established so that more and more people use our bicycles,” he said.
The city authorities have collaborated with Bhopal-based start-ups for the project. A trial run for this facility was held in November last year.
To avail the service, a user will have to register and activate his lifetime subscription by depositing a sum of Rs 300.
Recently, the administration announced charges for using this service.
The ride as per the officials will be free for the first half an hour, after which Rs 5 will be charged for up to one hour. For a ride of 2-3 hours, Rs 25 will be charged.
People will be charged Rs 50, 100, and 200 for 3, 4, and 6-hour rides respectively. For a ride above 8 hours, Rs 350 will be charged to a user.
