Chandigarh to get 1,250 e-cycles, 109 new docking stations by July 31
Sandeep Rana
Chandigarh, July 18
The city will get 1,250 more e-cycles at 109 new docking stations by July 31 under the fourth and final phase of the public bike sharing (PBS) project.
Though Chandigarh was supposed to get new cycles at 155 docking stations in the final phase, smart city officials said Panjab University did not permit 17 docking stations on its premises. For the remaining 18 stations, the agency wanted to shift the location, for which opinion has been sought from the Chief Architect.
“At 109 docking stations, 1,250 cycles will be added before July 31. We had taken up the matter with the PU authorities, but they did not agree. The fate of the remaining sites depends on the Chief Architect’s decision,” said Anindita Mitra, CEO, Chandigarh Smart City Limited.
The move was approved during a meeting of the smart city Board of Directors. The third phase of the PBS was launched in January this year by UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit.
The Chandigarh Smart City project was initiated in December 2020 with a pilot phase, starting with 250 bicycles and 25 docking stations, followed by phase I in August 2021 by adding 1,250 bicycles and 155 docking stations.
The project’s phase II began in February 2022, with the addition of 1,250 new bicycles to the fleet and 155 more docking stations. After the phase III, 3,750 bicycles are available at 465 docking stations across the city.
Commuting eco-friendly way
- Users can pick up an e-cycle for Rs 10 for half an hour
- Charges drop to Rs 5 per 30 minutes for those who take annual membership by paying Rs 500
- Users can avail the service after registering on the SmartBike app
- At present, 3,750 bicycles are available at 465 docking stations across the city
