Only a stand, no smart cycles: talks of e-cycles on Noida streets only real on paper

Between Noida Sectors 51 and 52 lies a small market complex, at which a ‘smart bicycle’ stand is supposed to provide residents of Noida with e-cycles to promote usage of environment-friendly vehicles. But this cycle stand is being used to park ordinary cycles. There is no sign of the smart bicycles that the signage indicates.

“I have never seen a smart cycle at the stand. It used to be empty, now it is just a cycle stand in which random people park their bikes while visiting the market,” says Srajit, 22 who is a regular user of the Noida Metro since its initial years.

In a December 2019 press release on the NMRC (Noida Metro Rail Corporation) website, Pranav Rastogi, assistant manager of corporate communications at the NMRC had asserted: “Each station will have a capacity of 30 e-cycles.” According to the NMRC, these cycles “can be used by any person older than 15 years and would be available from 06:00 am to 11:00 pm, i.e. during the metro revenue operation timings.”

Another grouse expressed by Srajit is that there is practically no way bicyclists can have their way through the maddening chaos of Noida’s city roads since there is no infrastructure for them.

“Noida is the worst city to walk, let alone cycle. When I was a kid, I remember Atta Market at Sector 18 being a nice place to walk around and buy stuff. Noida is overrun by cars, as simple as that.”

 While the metro authority has also made claims “ to connect with another 62 locations” in future, which when complete could make Noida the “first city in the world to have a 100% electric bike system”, it remains far from reality in 2022.

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