The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system for Bengaluru. However, Bengalureans will have to wait not less than a year to start pedaling.
The project will be implemented in the city at a cost of Rs 80 crore and will work just like the public bicycle sharing system that was launched in Mysuru in June this year.
“Bicycle riding facilities will be created in MG Road, Vidhana Soudha, Indiranagar, Banaswadi, HRBR Layout, HBR Layout, Kacharakanahalli, Koramangala and HSR Layout for people to cycle distances of 10-15 kms,” Law Minister T B Jayachandra told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. “The PBS in Bengaluru will have 6,000 cycles,” he added.
According to Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department) Mahendra Jain, the project will take about a year to take off. “The project will be implemented through a society that will be chaired by me. We will float tenders to select operators of the system. Tendering may take three months and another nine years thereafter (to set up the infrastructure),” Jain said.
The Directorate of Urban Land Transport, in its project report, has proposed 350 cycle docking stations in the city. By swiping a smart card, bicycles can be picked up from any of the docking stations. While the first hour will be free, users are likely to be charged Rs 5 for every additional hour of cycling. The cycles will be GPS-enabled to allow tracking. The Cabinet also approved setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement Smart City projects in Bengaluru. “Without the SPV, we were unable to spend Smart City funds, which includes Rs 100 crore each from the state and central governments for a five-year period,” Jayachandra said.
Administrative approval has been accorded for procurement of 3,000 buses to augment the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) fleet. Of this, 1,500 buses will be purchased by the government and the rest will be taken on contract basis, the minister said.
The Cabinet cleared a project to build one lakh homes on government land for economically backward families in Bengaluru. “Over 4,000 acres of government land recovered from encroachment is available. We have identified 468 acres for this project, which will cost Rs 6,000 crore,” Jayachandra said.
Also, the Cabinet approved revised cost estimates of the project to provide underground drainage and 775 MLD Cauvery water supply to 110 villages added to the BBMP limits. The project cost has been revised to Rs 5,550 crore from Rs 5,052 crore.