MAY 20189cycles regularly. Cities such as Delhi and Bengalu-ru have shown spectacular economic growth, but at a price: traffic has lit-erally come to a standstill. This is not only a cost to society but the econo-my. A sustainable solution involves a switch to other means of transpor-tation. Amsterdam has shown that a transition in modalities of transport is possible. Currently, 53 per cent of all travel in the city is by bicycle, compared to 23 per cent by car. In-vestment in bicycle infrastructure is a modern and intelligent move for a city to make. Studies from Denmark tell us that for every kilometre cy-cled, society enjoys a net profit of 23 cents. For every kilometre driven by car we suffer a net loss of -16 cents.The Use of TechnologyUrban bike sharing is much more than a handful of bicycles coupled with cycling infrastructure. Bike-shar-ing or public bicycle program is an innovative, environment friendly and social solution for sustainable urban transport. Its application has had profound effect on shaping peo-ple's transport behaviour, promoting cycling in the city and improving public health, but also increas-ing the use of bicycle as a mean of transport for point-to-point trips.Originally the concept of bike-sharing dates back to the 60s but its growth and rapid develop-ment wouldn't be possible until improved information technolo-gy has allowed better tracking of bikes and supported the manage-ment of large number of bikes and rental stations.Public bicycle is a solution that improves not only the city logistics in the field of traffic management, but in itself it is also logistically challenging endeavour. Planning the network, managing large num-ber of bikes and stations in the city system, including the transport of bikes between stations as well as providing logistics solutions for equipment servicing are a few of many challenges.Today, bike-sharing schemes, that have enabled public bicycles to become what they are today, are smart bikes ­ "information tech-nology-based systems". IT solutions have allowed, on one hand, unique identification of the user with the introduction of city cards, credit cards or mobile phones, on the oth-er hand­ RFID tags or GPS transmit-ters have enabled bicycles tracking. That improved public bicycle safety and protect them better from theft and vandalism. Technology has also contributed to the ability of man-agement of much larger number of bikes and bike-sharing stations, being an important factor in their rapid and global development.Govt of India's Smart Cities PlanThe Govt of India has earmarked Rs. 8,000 crores to develop cycling infrastructure in India as part of its "100 Smart Cities" plan. An im-portant constituent of the smart city plan is the creation of walkable localities, where a road network is created not only for vehicles and public transport, but also for pe-destrians and cyclists. Another im-portant feature is the presence of a variety of transport options - Tran-sit Oriented Development (TOD), public transport and last mile pa-ra-transport connectivity.Challenges AheadHowever, there are challenges ahead for cycle share schemes in terms of political will, dedicated allocation of government funds for cycling infrastructure, competition with mega city projects, image of cycle as a poor man's choice. No doubt, Cycle sharing systems in In-dia will create a new group of peo-ple who will use cycles for everyday commute from different economic backgrounds and not just poor. The cities need to invest in providing proper safety on roads for cyclists, innovation in street design by allocating dedicated space for cyclists and extensive use of mobile & IT applications and good outreach & marketing of cycle sharing concept among young population. Deenanath Harapanahalli
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