Bicycle-Sharing System: PMC seeks police protection for bicycles to check thefts, vandalism

The agencies have been complaining of bicycles being stolen and vandalism, leading to losses. “This has brought down the number of bicycles under the scheme. That’s why we have sought police protection,” he said.

The agencies have also complained of encroachment on cycle tracks. Salunkhe said that the PMC would implement a pilot project to install CCTV cameras to man the cycle tracks and bicycles. The poor condition of cycle tracks is also a cause of concern, so the authorities concerned have been asked to improve the infrastructure and efforts are being done to include the bicycle plan in the development plan of the city, said Salunkhe.

When contacted, an OFO (HK) Ltd official confirmed that it had closed its operations under the PBS but did not give reasons.

At present, the PMC has 94 kilometres of cycle track and plans to link the PBS with the city’s railways, bus, BRT, proposed Metro terminals, schools as well as workplaces to provide “first and last mile connectivity”, Salunkhe said.

The PMC has set a target of making available 8,000 bicycles this year. Mobike has made available 1,200 bicycles, Yulu Bikes Pvt Ltd 680 bicycles and Zoomcar India Pvt Ltd 1,500 bicycles while OFO has withdrawn 500 bicycles.