The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), in its parking plan, has proposed reserving 10 per cent of the city’s parking space for bicycles.
With this, officials hope to kickstart the failed public bicycle sharing (PBS) system and promote cycling as a first and last-mile connectivity solution. The plan is likely to come into force as soon as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike implements it.
In 2007, the government launched PBS with an aim to deploy 6,000 bicycles. The plan took off only in 2019 but didn’t last long as private companies operating the system found it “unviable”. With no funding from the government to bridge revenue gaps, PBS became a non-starter.
DULT is now trying to reboot the plan by protecting the rights of those who embrace non-motorised transport. Under a policy approved by the government, DULT will draw area parking plans for each of the BBMP zones.
DULT Commissioner V Manjula said plans for five of the city’s eight zones have been submitted to the BBMP.
The area parking plans are prepared after data analysis, and in consultation with stakeholders. “We have reserved 10 per cent of the total parking provided in the detailed area parking plans for cycles,” she told DH.
PBS needs funding
Lack of funds and poor infrastructure have bogged down the idea from the start. Of the two companies in the space, Bounce has shifted to electric bikes while Yulu has brought down the number of cycles drastically.
Yulu CEO Amit Gupta said the company had not given up on bicycles. “We have provided about 2,000 bicycles. If the rules reserve 10 per cent of parking space for bicycles, we will certainly increase the numbers,” he told DH.
Civic activist Satya Sankaran said the idea could take off only when Namma Metro, BMTC and, in future, suburban rail operators make the bicycle sharing system a part of their network. “A change in attitude among them is necessary. For a large city like Bengaluru, we need to deploy one lakh bicycles integrated with mainstream modes. The officials have to understand that bicycle sharing is an inalienable part of their system,” he said.
Manjula said DULT teams had visited metro stations to look for space for cycle parking. “They will be visiting BMTC bus terminals soon,” she said.