Bicycle Sharing in Delhi - Users Evaluation Report March 21 Sebastian Schlebusch Intern GTZ-ASEM
1. Objectives Delhi has experienced an enormous growth of private motorized vehicles especially in the last 2 decades. 1 With nearly 1 newly registered vehicles on a daily average, there are more private motorized vehicles in the capital then in Kolkatta, Mumbai and Chennai together. 2 The pitfalls of this development in terms of congestion, rising emissions and mental stress become obvious every day. The Delhi Government has taken initiative by formulating its 'Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transport Vision 221' which comprisies of an extensive metro and bus rapid transit network. Today, three metro lines with 86 stations and 1 BRT stretch of 8km are already operational. In order to achieve a safe and convenient mulitmodal, door-to-door mobility solution it is essential to provide high quality feeder services to and from the stations. In addition to mass transit systems like metro and BRT 165 cities worldwide have implemented a public bicycle sharing system already with over 4 cities planning for it. 3 These systems offer a citywide network of bicycle rental stations as a carbon-free, low cost and individual mobility solution. Recently, such an initiative has also been taken up in Delhi by a private operator along the BRT corridor and at 7 metro stations. This report provides an overview of the findings from a user evaluation carried out in March 21 and gives an outlook for further qualitative and quantitative expansion. 2. Key features of the Delhi Bicycle Sharing Project 2.1 Location of Stations The first three bicycle rental stations were set up in 28 at three metro stations (Patel Chowk, Pragati Maidan, Vishvavidhyalaya) by Planet Advertising Private Ltd., a provider of outdoor advertisement space in the National Capital Region. Since then the project has expanded to 13 stations with 1 bicycles each. 5 stations are located along the operational part of the BRT corridor, between Ambedkar Nagar T-junction in the south and Moolchand flyover in the north. Besides, in addition to the 3 pilot phase stations, the following metro stations are equipped with bicycle rental facilities: RK Ashram Marg, Rajendra Place, Barakhamba Road, Mandi House and Indraprashta. The expansion continues with a station at Akshardam Temple and 4 stations in Noida in operation by the end of March 21. Google Map network 2.2 Rental procedure Each station is equipped with a station guard who takes care of the registration procedure. In order to rent a bicycle the user has to provide a valid Indian ID-Card, Voter Card or Driving License which will be kept as a deposit until the return of the bicycle at the station. The user has to pay 1 rs for the first 4 hours plus 5 rs for each additional hour. In order to allow for a 1 Economic Survey of Delhi 21-2 and 27-8 2 Transport Research Wing, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Government of India (29): Road Transport Year Book 26-7. New Delhi, p. 9-93 3 Http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com
flexible return of the bicycles at any station, a membership system is coming up soon. After filing a registration form and paying 1rs registration fee the user is allowed to drop the bicycle at any of the stations. Next to the increased flexibility, the user saves 2 on each trip. As the revenues from the user fees hardly even cover the salary of the station guards, the project mainly relies on advertisement space at the stations as a source of revenue. 2.3 Equipment of bicycles The bicycles differ slightly between the metro station rental stands and the BRT stations. Although providing an identical model from Hero Cycles Ltd., the former are painted red and dark blue, whereas the later are painted green to comply with the corporate design of the new low floor buses along the BRT corridor and the design of the bus stops. The bicycles' model is a pretty common one in India, so apart from the color they are not easily identifiable by outsiders. The level of technology and quality is relatively low, with no extra gears, no lights, no height adjustable seats and unsafe brakes. 3. Results from user evaluation 3.1 Methodology The survey has been carried out in March 21 at the BRT corridor bicycle rental stations. As every station employs a station guard, this personal was briefed to ask the users after returning the bicycle to fill out the questionnaire jointly. The questionnaire was developed in an English and a Hindi version to allow for most of the users to understand them as both languages are the lingua franca in Delhi. Taking into consideration the lacking experience of the station guards in social surveys and following the experiences from the pretest, the complexity and length of the originally intended survey was reduced. The questionnaire is attached in Annex I. The survey design aimed at a complete inventory of users, but non-respondents rate is over 5. Reasons for this relatively high number of non respondents might be the mentioned lacking experience of the station guards as well as social constraints. Some people, who consider themselves of higher status than the station guard, might not be interested in giving him information. Nevertheless the number of returning questionnaires (191) is high enough to provide significant results. 3.2 User profile Each station has an daily average number of 11 customers. 4 The typical user of the Delhi bicycle sharing project is between 2 and 3 years old, male and earns between 2, and 1, rs a month. This main target group resembles the experience from other bicycle sharing projects in Europe where the majority of users lies within this age group. 5 4 Registration entries in the rental station books 5 Http://obis.com
Age structure Highest Education 5 6 4 5 3 4 3 2 2 1 1 <2 2-29 3-39 >4 secondary graduate or higher primary or low er senior secondary 35 3 25 2 Highest income Gender 1 8 6 15 1 5 4 2 < 2. 2.1-5.1-1.1 25. >5. student House- male female 5. 1. - - w ife 25. 5.
Another interesting feature gets obvious from the following graphic. 49,7 of the users possess a personal vehicle. 34,4 own a two-wheeler, 13,2 own a bicycle and 1, own a car. Moreover, 4,2 of all the users have either a two-wheeler, a car or both. 6 vehicle possession 1 8 6 4 no yes 2 general tw ow heeler bicycle car 3.3 Trip profile As the operation design does not (yet) allow for a flexible return at other stations, the origin and destination location is the same with every trip. Nevertheless, the users were asked to provide information about their destination before returning the bicycle at the station. They were also asked to tell the trip's purpose, the reason to chose the bicycle, the frequency of rentals and how they got to know about the system. The figures show that, despite the very inflexible fare structure, 36 use the bicycles for commuting purposes, either to work or to school/college. Besides 25,3 use it as a leisure time travel mode. This resembles roughly the figure of people who consider cycling as fun (22,2). Regarding the reason to rent a bicycle, 71,5 said that it is a convenient mode of travel. 68,3 have chosen the cycle because it offers a cheap mobility solution. Considering the relatively low number (9,4) of people, who mentioned that they did not have another choice than renting a bicycle to reach their destination means, that most of the rental bicycle trips can either be done by personal vehicles or by public transport, in this case by bus. 7 6 The discrepancy between the addition of the figures of car and two-wheeler owners and 4,2 derives from the fact, that it is possible to own a car and a two-wheeler. 7 Multiple answers were possible for this question
Purpose of trip Why did you rent the bicycle today? convenient 25 3 36 commuting shopping, services cheap healthy environmental-friendly leisure fun other no other choice 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The average rental time is 173 minutes, which is a enormously high figure compared to most other rental schemes in the world. This is due to the non-existing network and the restriction to bring the cycle back to its origin. If we have a look at the users' destinations, there are several locations which have been mentioned more often. These seem to be suitable for an assessment of sub-stations to increase the network and for enhancement of safe cycling facilities. Destinations of trips South Extension 6 Saket 9 Moolchand 6 Kanpur 5 Mehrauli 5 Lajpat Nagar 5 Nehru Place 5 Kalkaji 4 Malviya Nagar 4 other 31 Chirag Delhi 2 Okhla 3 Pushp Vihar 2 Siri Fort 3 Sarojini Nagar 3 Badarpur 3 Sadiq Nagar 3
The following map shows the BRT stretch between Moolchand and Ambedkar Nagar with all destinations, who were mentioned by at least 4 different customers. BRT-Corridor Main directions Cycle rental stations Trip destinations 9,4 (16 trips) 4,7 (8 trips) 2,4 (4 trips) Source of Background Map: Eicher City Map Delhi 28 Scale 1:5.
Another interesting aspect is, that 83 of all customers perceive the bicycle as the fastest available mode of transport to reach their destination. By renting a bicycle my trip was faster than any other mode of transport 17 yes no 83 3.4 User evaluation of the sharing system Asked for their opinion about different elements of the bicycle sharing system the general feedback is very positive. None of the four elements asked for had less than 8 support. This positive feedback is highlighted by an overwhelming 99,4 positive respondents on the question whether they intend to rent a cycle again. Are the different elements convenient for You? 1 8 6 4 2 yes no bicycle condition opening times fare structure procedure
Will you rent a bicycle again? 1 yes no 99 Given this positive feedback, the project has already achieved to attract quite a few users who rent bicycles frequently. 44,6 of all respondents rent a bicycle at least once a week. frequency of use 4 3 2 1 more than once a month everyday first time 4. Conclusion Although the project has been set up without a preliminary feasibility study, it can be considered successful among the users due to the very positive overall feedback. Furthermore it seems to be a socially inclusive project targeting people without own vehicles as well as people owning private motorized vehicles. Especially due to high share of the later,
which comprise of 4,2 of the total users, this project has a significant potential to substitute private motorized trips by cycling. Nevertheless, the bicycle sharing project does not have the substantial impact yet, which it could have on urban traffic in Delhi. With an average rental duration of 174 minutes and a bicycle occupancy rate 8 of 1.1 there is a utilization rate of 31,6. In the first view this figure looks really high, but it mainly derives from the extremely long duration of trips. The average number of trips per day with this utilization is only 55 along the BRT corridor stations. This inefficiency has two main reasons. First, there is no possibility to return the bicycle at the users' destinations as the network of substations is not yet existing. Second, there is no financial incentive for shorter trips by smaller intervals within the fare structure. This relative low number of daily customers also shows that apart from the positive feedback from the users, this project is not an option for the majority of people yet. In order to benefit from the advantages of cheap and convenient travel as mentioned by the users, the trip has to start and end in the same location and should not exceed more than 4 hours. These assumptions are very restrictive and do not comply to most people's trip characteristics. Besides, without any Smart Card, online or mobile phone based registration facilities the registration procedure is really restrictive as the user has to deposit his documents at the station every time, which is not attractive for many people. 5. Recommendations In order to affect the urban mobility significantly, it is essential to utilize the full potential these bicycle sharing systems offer. The priority of enhancement has to lie on developing a network of stations within a radius of 2-5km around the existing stations. Preferably the destination locations mentioned by the users most often (Saket, Malviya Nagar, Kalkaji, Lajpat Nagar, etc.) have to be considered. This network extension has to be flanked by a registration procedure which allows for flexible return, that is without depositing personal documents each time. Possibilities are membership systems based on simple membership cards, Smart Card based systems which allow for real time monitoring, or mobile phone based devices where after initial registration people make a phone call to automatically release a bicycle from the stand. A Smart Card based system seems to be the suitable solution for Delhi as the costs are much lower compared to mobile phone based systems and they are much easier to operate. These steps have to be taken up as high priority to increase the customer base. In a second step it has to be assured, that the efficiency of the individual trips will be increased. As ¾ of all trips are non-leisure based, people use the bicycles to link their origin and destination preferably without much delay. They have to be motivated to drop the bicycle immediately after use, so that the highest amount of bicycles is available for customers. As most of the 8 Number of customers per day divided by number of cycles
destinations mentioned by the users are within 5 km radius around the BRT stations, 3 minutes are generally sufficient to cover this distance. Hence the average bicycle rental duration should not exceed 3 minutes. That way it will be assured that the bicycles can be used continuously by different people. In order to achieve this objective the following steps are recommended: After establishing a network each station has to be equipped with a map showing the station network's locations to inform users adequately about the return possibilities. The fare structure has to be adjusted in a way that the cheapest initial fare possible will be provided for the first interval of 3 minutes and an increasing fare for each additional interval. As the main source of revenue is advertisement, providing minimal or even gratis initial time does not significantly affect the revenue side of the project. These are the absolutely necessary steps to enhance performance of the project and to bring a substantial amount of people on bicycles. Besides there are steps to be taken up, which will support the general attitude towards cycling as a sustainable mode of transport. As the survey shows, there are already people from middle and upper middle income group who are using these bicycles. To attract also those people, who are still reluctant to cycle, the bicycle sharing project has to become a benchmark for India. Deriving from international experience of successful schemes, the following issues should be addressed. The bicycles should have an easily identifiable design which addresses the desires of the main target group (young people). They should look sporty and cool but remain practical, safe and stable. A unique design also minimizes the danger of theft. The comfort of the bicycles has to be world class to address car owners. Depending on price and availability, possibilities of integrating height adjustable seats with quick release skewers, shockers and 3 gears should be explored. To financially compensate for the higher costs of advanced bicycles, opportunities for advertisement on the bicycle (on back tire mud covers & baskets) should be explored. A brand label should be developed which is catchy and unique. The project should be promoted among different channels (homepage, posters on buses and metro trains/stations, etc.) The station attendants should be customer service orientated, encouraging people to use the bicycles and providing a modern and positive atmosphere.
6. Outlook After the successful launch of 3 rd generation bicycle sharing systems 9 in several cities of developing countries 1 and the launch of the FreMo project in Thane 11 the time seems to be ripe for implementing a world class system in India's capital. The user evaluation shows that there is a substantial potential for decongesting Delhi's roads by substituting short motorized trips by cycling. Yet, to ultimately reach this goal, implementing the above mentioned steps is only one part of the solution. The development of a network of stations by a private operator has to be flanked by governmental efforts to improve cycling infrastructure in order to assure the safety of cyclists. 9 ICT-based systems with fully automatised rental and return procedure 1 Mexico City, Rio De Janeiro, Wuhan, etc. For a full list see Http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com 11 Http://fremo.in