Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been finding ways to extend the last mile connectivity for Metro users in Delhi. For the same, the corporation had recently introduced electric bicycles at select stations. Now, in addition to extending this service to more stations, the authorities will also be installing EV charging points.
The effort has been mandated by Anil Baijal, Lt. Governor of Delhi, in a recent meeting as per a?report. Aimed at reviewing the progress on the Multi-Modal Integration (MMI) plans on DMRC metro stations, the meeting saw Spl. Commissioner of Police (Traffic), MD (DIMTS); MD (DTIDC), Pr. Chief Engineer (PWD); Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Transport), GNCTD; Chief Architect (DMRC) and other officers in attendance.
Encouraging the use of electric vehicles for last mile connectivity, Lt. Governor of Delhi directed the authorities to setup charging facilities for such electric vehicles at every metro station in Delhi. The idea is to enable users to commute to the metro stations using EVs and then being able to charge them if required.
(Representative Image: BCCL)
The directive is another in line after DMRC recently initiated an electric bicycle ride sharing service across some of the metro stations in partnership with Bengaluru based EV start-up Yulu. A total of 250 e-bikes were deployed under this partnership. For now, the service is limited to nine stations but is poised to be extended to others soon.
The target is to increase the count of these e-bikes to around 5,000 in Delhi-NCR, within this year. By the second half of the 2020, Yulu co-founder, Amit Gupta plans to have 25,000 of these units across the region. Those intending to use the service can simply download the Yulu app on their smartphones and complete the registration process. Once the user is logged in, he or she can visit the nearest Yulu zone and unlock a Yulu e-bike using a QR code on the app. Interestingly, since there is a limited top speed on the electric bicycles, there is no requirement of a driving license for the same.
Similar initiatives to enhance last mile connectivity options for commuters in Delhi will further increase the use-case scenario of Delhi metro and will attract more and more users, cutting down the dependence on individual vehicles and hence the associated fuel required to run them. Delhi has been fighting with hazardous levels of air pollution and the idea to increase the use of electric vehicles as well as public transport comes in line with the efforts to curb this rising air pollution.