Mysuru: The first Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system in entire Asia —Trin Trin — has evoked an overwhelming response in the past one month of its launch. In all, 2,250 people have registered, since Chief Minister Siddharamaiah inaugurated the facility in city on June 4.

Green Wheel Riders Manager Sagar, speaking to Star of Mysore, said that the demand had increased and requests are being made to extend the services to Ramakrishnanagar, Gokulam, Vijayanagar, JP Nagar and surroundings of all these areas. There is also a demand to provide service to Industrial Area as a separate cluster to benefit transit of workers, he said.

The Green Wheel has even come up with the statistics of the riders in the past one month and interestingly people in the age group of 30 to 40 years, which stands at 29.8 per cent, are using Trin Trin the most. This is followed by those in the age bracket of 20 to 30 at 29.6 per cent and in the age group of 40 to 50 at 20.9 per cent, while 11.3 per cent above 50 are using the bicycles.

Gone are the days when children in the age group of ten to 20 years would be going to the cycle shops that hired bicycles, wait for their turn to hire small bicycles designed especially for children and pay anywhere between 10 paise – 25 paise an hour to ride the bicycle. Now, only 8.4 per cent in the age group of less than 20 hire bicycles.

Every day 25 or more people are registering and at the counter near RTO on Vani Vilas Double Road nearly 50 registrations are taking place, said Sagar.

Maharaja’s College student Prakash, who comes daily from T. Narasipur finds the facility a boon as it saves him time and he is free to commute from bus stand to his college which hardly costs him anything as the first hour is free of charge.

There are six registration counters at RTO, City Bus Stand, Mysore Palace, City Railway Station, KSRTC Suburban Bus Stand and near Mysuru Zoo. There is also one at the MysuruOne Centre in Jayanagar, Zone 2.

The bicycles can be released from the docking yards only through smart cards. Each smart card costs Rs. 350 that includes deposit money of Rs. 250, registration for smart card of Rs. 50 and recharge currency worth Rs. 50. The registration is only through online. However, smart cards can be obtained either by paying cash or credit, debit cards and even online and any identity card like an Aadhaar card is a must to obtain a smart card. The deposit of Rs. 250 is for lifetime, said Sagar.

Early risers using Trin Trin

The early risers, who go for jogging or walking and most of them middle-aged, are using the Trin Trin as a form of exercise too. They collect the bicycle from one point, ride for a distance and dock at another place close-by. Many evening walkers also prefer to use Trin Trin as a form of exercise.

Manju, a Bengalurean, who had come on work and stayed here for a week found the bicycle sharing system very useful. Speaking to Star of Mysore, she said that she has been using the bicycle that saves her the exorbitant auto charge, besides being free to go wherever she wants. “The cycles are well-maintained and the tyre pressure is always good. I will not forget this experience,” she said.

The bicycles are available from 6 am to 8 pm but the cycles can be docked till 10 pm. There are 430 bicycles and in each docking station there will be eight bicycles. There are a few that has double docking station too where 12 bicycles are docked.

There is a dedicated team handling these bicycles. If one docking yard has only a few cycles, then the team gets a call and it takes the bicycles from the docking yard where there are more bicycles and place it in the yard with less ones, said Sagar and added if the bicycles are not returned in a day, then there are plans to impose penalty.

However, many still do not understand how the bicycle sharing system works, especially the uninitiated who also like to use the facility. If they have more information they would also use this facility, said a bicycle enthusiast K. Sreedhar.

This is the off-season and we are sure that during Dasara, even tourists including foreigners will be using this facility a lot, said Sagar.