For all commuters who refrained from using the Bengaluru Metro because of hassles with travelling from the station to their final destinations, city-based bike rental company Wicked Ride is offering a solution.
Wicked Ride has launched a Rent-a-bike service from the Byapanahalli and Trinity Circle metro stations through its utility arm Metro bikes. This service lets commuters rent an ungeared vehicle from these stations to any destination they wish to travel to. Starting at Rs 20 for every half an hour and for a distance of up to three km, the company charges an added Rs 10 for every extra hour and Rs 3 for every additional kilometre.
“The commuter needs to submit an address proof and a copy of his driving license. Once he registers with his email id at our counter, a one-time password (OTP) is generated, which he will have to give at the counter, after which he can pick a bike,” explains S. Vivek, co-founder of Wicked Ride.
Payments for the service will be done electronically. “When they register with us at the kiosk they pay Rs.500, which is transferred to the electronic wallet on their phone. Money is deducted from this account as and when they finish their rides, and they can top-up their wallet amount when they come the next time,” explains Ajay.
All of the bikes have a GPS tracker attached, which provides details of the user’s location. Once riders are finished using the bikes for their commute, they can either drop the bike off at the metro station itself, or drop it off at other designated docking stations in the city. “For Trinity circle, we have a docking station at Koramangala, as that is where most people alighting at the station are headed,” says Vivek.
While the Metro Bikes kiosk at the Trinity Circle Metro was milling with people gawking at the luxury bikes on display, Wicked Ride is currently only offering utility vehicles like Honda Navi, Honda Activa and TVS Scooty Pep Plus under this scheme.
The company plans to tie up with various corporates in and around Koramangala to provide bikes from the station for regular commuters.
The rental service was launched on Monday morning at 8 am, and, according to representatives of the company, had clocked around 20 rides each at both stations within three hours of service. With 30 bikes stationed at each Metro station, the company plans to extend its services to Indiranagar, Mantri Square and Peenya Metro stations in the coming weeks.