Commuters in Bengaluru now have another option to help them beat the traffic – bike taxis! And the service only costs Rs 3 per kilometre.
The Bengaluru Metro Transport Corporation, on Wednesday, introduced the service, named ‘Rent on Go’ which allows commuters to rent a bike or bicycle to a bus or metro station.
Transport Minister HM Revanna inaugurated the service at the Shantinagar bus station on Wednesday. As of now, these bike taxis operate only in the KR Market and Kempegowda bus stations, the New Indian Express reported.
Atul, one of the persons in charge of ‘Rent on Go’ tells TNM, “You have to pay a deposit of Rs 500 initially and provide your ID proof in the beginning. After that, you can take a ride for just Rs 3 per kilometre. A driver will drop you at the bus or metro station you’ve entered as your destination.”
The scooters and bicycles are now parked near the BMTC office in Shantinagar.
The Namma Metro too has started a service where both bicycles and scooters can be rented from metro stations and can drop commuters off at bus stops. This costs Rs 5 per kilometre.
“There two bike services operational as of now for commuters – one by the metro service and the other by the Transport Department. We hope to make this service available across the city soon,” says Channabasappa, a BMTC official.
Commuters have hailed this move by the Transport Department and Namma Metro. “This is a great option, especially for routes that see a lot of traffic, for it can zip through roads. And compared to Uber and Ola cabs, this is much cheaper,” says Anand S, a commuter.
Other commuters at the launch echoed Anand’s comments and added that this service was a blessing for covering shorter distances.
Currently, a bike taxi service called Rapido plies in Bengaluru at Rs 4 per kilometre.
Uber too operates a bike taxi service in Gurgaon called Uber Moto.
The company and Ola tried launching the bike traffic service in Bangalore earlier, but ran into governmental roadblocks and abandoned the plan.