Bikerati on track to pedal paths

Bengaluru is all set to follow the footsteps of Mysuru and adopt a public bicycle sharing system. Inspired by Copenhagen’s cycling culture, The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s  (BBMP) chief has decided to implement the idea, and cyclists in the city cannot wait enough for the project to gain action! While the city has been buzzing with cyclists, there’s still not enough inspiration, neither the scope for people to indulge in cycling, which only adds to the issue of the bottleneck traffic looming large over the city. However, videographer Bharath Naik who also happens to be a cycling enthusiast believes this system can only be revolutionary. “It’ll be a great incentive for the general public as it will encourage people to take up cycling, and act as a dual benefit programme – maintain your fitness while ensure the environment’s conservation too. This will help me a lot personally too as I use the metro everyday from Yeshwanthpur to JP Nagar.”

With cyclathons and numerous related cycling hikes happening all over the city, it’s no shocking fact that the response towards BBMP’s decision has been anything other than welcoming. However, regular cyclists believe that certain measures should be adopted too, to run the system without glitches. Software engineer Aman Aniket says, “As brilliant as the proposal is, it is imperative to keep the cycles well maintained. Issues such as the cycles getting stolen might result in the stoppage of the entire system.”

Bengalureans have been exploding with excitement over the city becoming Asia’s second city with a fully functional bicycle sharing system as well. “The idea of witnessing multiple people cycling to the destinations is absolutely exhilarating. I can’t wait to see this happening to our city. I’ll probably become an arch patron of the programme as bus depots and metro stations are not only far from my house, but the sense of freedom while riding a cycle especially Bengaluru’s traffic is addictive,” enthuses Rishita Bose, an IT professional whose hobbies include going on impulsive cycling sprees along the rocky hills of namma ooru.

From curbing transport cost, traffic jams and pollution to being another attempt at sustaining the city’s environment, this is just another striking attribute that Bengaluru is going to be known for. Subhadip Ghatak, a motion pictures editor who refuses to commute via anything except his cycle, opines, “I don’t know if traffic would actually reduce by this as people would still use their two wheelers to get to places. But it will definitely make a difference to the environment.”