'A project that embraces bicycling as the inevitable mode of transport, be it a under-developed, developing or a developed country'
1. From my experiences during my visit to Tokyo, Japan I've realised that if each person starts using his personal vehicle for his commute than no amount of money in the world can create an infrastructure that can meet such requirements. Consequently, the idea of using bicycle as a public transport struck me. While the idea is not new, implementing it successfully and profitably is a challenge which I believe this project can address.
2. First and foremost, to implement this project, we need to select a metro city that provides the most conducive environment for the implementation of the project. I've selected Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, since the city has successfully implemented a sustainable and efficient public bus transport system (BRTS) namely the 'Janmarg' which has immense potential to scale up when required. The 'Janmarg' incorporates dedicated cycle tracks as part of its design which is very critical for the successful implementation of the project.
3. Secondly, it is very important to involve the local Municipal Corporation since the design of the project also depends a lot on the location and proximity of the Bicycle stands to the BRTS bus stand. More imporatantly, acquisition of land at the current market prices would make it difficult for the project to be financially feasible and hence Govt. support would be required for providing necessary infrastructure such as land, building, etc.
The project envisages a concept of bicycle leasing which will be implemented as follows: 1. Assuming the cost of a bicycle at say Rs. 3000, a person, say Mr. ABC, can enroll as a member to this facility by paying Rs. 3000 as an interest free security deposit which is refundable at any point. 2. Mr. ABC shall be issued a smart card which shall be required at the time of issuing a bicycle to him. This smart card shall record the unique identification number of the bicycle that is issued to him. 3. Suppose Mr. ABC travels daily to his office at C.G. Road(Area) from his residence at Shivranjani(Area). The nearest BRTS bus stand to his residence i.e Shivranjani is about 1 km away. However, as it often happens, no auto-rickshaw driver is willing to ferry him since the distance is too short. As a result, Mr. ABC is not too sure if he'll get an auto-rickshaw and ends up walking to the bus stand. Now he boards the bus at Shivranjani and gets down at the nearest bus stand to his office at C.G. Road. And he again encounters the same problem and is not able to get an auto-rickshaw and is forced to walk down to his office. Mr. ABC goes through the same ordeal on his way back home from office. 4. To mitigate this hardship, Mr. ABC uses the bicycle issued to him and cycles down to the Shivranjani Bus stand. He surrenders his bicycle at the leasing branch at bus stand and the transaction is captured by the smart card used. ( Control Check: The smart card checks whether Mr. ABC has surrendered the same cycle that he was issued earlier by matching the Unique Identification Number of the Bicycle). Now, Mr. ABC boards the BRTS and gets down at C.G. Road bus stand. He issues a bicycle for himself from the branch situated at this bus stand using his smart card and cycles down to his office. On his way back home in the evening, the entire process is repeated. 5. In case Mr. ABC encounters any hardware failure (eg: puncture, etc), he shall be provided with a helpline number which shall deploy a van carrying a replacement bicycle to the current area where he is located. This facility would not only ensures a hassle free experience to the user but also ensure that any repair work carried out on the bicycle is as per the requisite standards so that the quality of the bicycle is not impaired or affected in anyway.
The above project would require setup of branches strategically located at all the BRTS bus stands (if possible, an integrated approach way from the bus stand to the bicycle branch stand should be made available). 2. The project would also require robust software as well as communication systems across branches that can accurately capture the transactions and update them in ‘real-time’. 3. The capital requirements for the purchase of the bicycles for this project would be met to quite an extent by the security deposit collected from the customer. 4. At the same time, the security deposit collected from the customer would cover the cost of the bicycle in case the customer does not return the bicycle and is not traceable. 5. The revenue streams so far identified are rentals generated from advertisement space on bicycle wheel caps, hoarding space on the branches, etc) as well as annual subscription fee from the customers. 6. The expenses would mainly comprise of the payroll cost of employees, the cost of software and other IT infrastructure, the cost of maintaining a 24*7 helpline van, bicycle maintenance cost.
