Mumbai: In the last two months, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) electric bikes (e-bikes) – which started with a fleet of 150 – have gone up to 1,000 at 16 locations across the city. With an increasing demand for the service, the BEST is now trying to resolve the issue of miscreants abandoning these e-bikes at random places.
“There are private agencies that have been outsourced for providing the e-bike services across the city. We have noticed instances where the bikes are abandoned at random locations,” said Lokesh Chandra, general manager, BEST.
It seems like the work is done by some miscreants, he added. At the end of each day when the agency checks the inventory, we have noted the missing bikes.
“As all vehicles are connected with the GPRS facility, our team tracks them and brings them back to their respective locations or e-bike stands. We are trying to find a way to fix this issue,” said Chandra.
In June, BEST launched a public trial with 150 e-bikes. The daily average trips of these bikes increased to 550. BEST monitored the turnaround time for the e-bikes and introduced additional stands and vehicles for smoother travel.
“It is not only located next to bus depots, but we have made provisions for these bikes near railway stations, residential areas and offices,” said Chandra. “When a passenger gets off at a particular bus stop, they can easily make use of these e-bikes to head to their final destination. These are app-based services and payment is also done digitally.”
During the public trial, areas like Andheri, Powai, Vikhroli and Vile Parle were most popular for e-bike travel. Corporate and business areas of Hiranandani Powai, Andheri MIDC, NELCO in Andheri, SEEPZ and Godrej Platinum in Vikhroli were also very popular among office goers using these e-bikes. There are around 50,000 commuters who have registered online for the e-bike facility and daily, on average, 200 bikes are being used across the city.
“Daily, it costs me around ₹25 to ₹28, to reach my office in Powai from Vikhroli station. It is cheaper than an auto-rickshaw for a distance of 4.5 kilometres,” said Reyansh David, a daily commuter from Thane to Powai.
He added that there are share auto-rickshaws from the station which charge ₹30 and I will have to wait for others to join, which sometimes takes another 10 minutes and the auto driver takes different routes based on where others want to go.
“All of this is time-consuming, with the e-bikes I reach within 10 minutes and traffic is also not a worry and the mode of commute is cheaper. I have to pay online making the process smoother during peak hours while returning home as well,” said David, 29.
The e-bikes provide travel at ₹20 base fare with ₹3 per kilometre travel and ₹1.50 per minute. Additional e-bikes have been included in areas like Juhu, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra, Mahim and Dadar. As these bikes are gearless, there is no requirement for a driver’s licence. It has a speed limit of 25 kilometre-per-hour, hence no incidents of rash driving can be reported. By June, the fleet is expected to increase to 5000 e-bikes.