A Trin Trin bicycle stationed at the docking station near Lingaiah Circle at Ashokapuram has been stolen by miscreants who have pulled out the bicycle by force from the securing clip.

Confirming about the theft, MCC Zone 2 Assistant Commissioner Javaregowda, speaking to SOM, said that the bicycle has been stolen and a complaint has been lodged at Ashokapuram Police Station in this regard.

Though the launch of the facility was scheduled tentatively in the last week of March, it is likely to be put off till the conclusion of the election process on April 13.

Trin Trin is India’s first Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) initiative, where the bicycles will be rented out with the user placing the smart card on the reader next to the docked cycle and secure its release. When returning the bicycle, the user will have to slide the bicycle clip into an empty dock, which will indicate completion of the transaction on the reader.  

450 bicycles will be put for public use at 48 docking stations as part of the PBS. The docking stations were planned to be unmanned, and the theft has come as a shock to the authorities who may now have to consider patrolling near the docking stations as the bicycles will have to remain in the docking station overnight as the PBS operates from 6 am to 10 pm.