Steena Joy – Mumbai
The Diu administration is planning to build two bicycle stations in the Union Territory so as to offer an environment friendly travel option for tourists to move around the destination. A bicycle station is a service in which bicycles are made available for shared use to individuals on a very short term basis like the Velib bicycle hiring system in Europe. Bike share schemes allow people to borrow a cycle from cycle station.
Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Vikram Singh Malik, IAS, collector & district magistrate, Diu informed, “We have given the green signal to build two bicycle stations in Diu, one at Nagoa beach and the other at Diu jetty, Bunder chowk in the city centre. We decided on these two sites because they are located near hotel clusters and the beach attracts a lot of tourists. The two stations will be able to accommodate 50 bicycles each.” Diu already has a newly laid out 4.2 km cycling track.
The administration plans to model the station on the same lines as the one introduced by the Rajkot Muncipal Corporation in Rajkot nearby. The bicycles will mostly be sports bikes.
Commenting on the revenue model, Malik said, “We have not yet worked out the details of cost and revenue. But one thing we want to do is give young entrepreneurs in Diu an opportunity to be involved in this project. That will give them a sense of ownership to their native place giving them a reason to stay back instead of leaving to nearby states in search of employment.” A survey done in India on travel patterns in Indian cities reveals that 60-70 per cent of trips are performed within a distance of 5 km or less, which is ideal for cycling.