Cycle Chalao on HT Mumbai

1. business.outlookindia.com | Pedal Pushers http://business.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?...
Feature MAGAZINE | SEP 04, 2010
From Left To Right: Jyotika Bhatia, Raj Janagam, Jui Gangan.
Pedal Pushers
Three students are taking on the Mumbai traffic, simply by giving out cycles on hire.
NAREN KARUNAKARAN
Mission To decongest traffic and cut down on noise and air pollution levels, by getting people hooked onto cycling.
Benefits Healthier, easier and low cost way of getting around. Cleaner cities.
R aj Janagam, Jyotika Bhatia and Jui Gangan, students of social entrepreneurship at a Mumbai management institute, are trying to do what large corporations and
well-endowed city administrations are attempting in Europe and elsewhere.
Of course, the difference is in scale, the use of technology, reach and impact. But in terms of potential and what the initiative can do to make the lives of harried urbanites
less burdensome and more enjoyable, it’s on par with the best.
The trio is designing a cycle hire system for the city of Mumbai, and they are doing it ground up, slowly, painfully
. This, unlike the Velib of Paris or the very recent Barclays Cycle Hire in London—crafted, managed and run by visionary
political leaders, working in tandem with corporations. JCDecaux, the outdoor advertising multinational, is a partner in the
Velib. "A subscriber to
our service now
The Velib boasts 25,000 cycles and 1,800 cycle docking stations. Cycle Chalao, the initiative of the three students, has started with a gets unlimited
paltry 30 cycles and a couple of docking stations. The initiative was launched in January this year and the model is still being tweaked. A cycling; it’s not
couple of lakhs in investment—a loan from an individual benefactor—got them going. based on time or
distance travelled."
“We are buying another 30 cycles for we have just realised 60 is the optimum number to start with,” says Bhatia, who heads operations.
They started with Mulund, a distant suburb of Mumbai, and to cut teeth, they are eyeing the 8,000-strong student populace of the Kelkar
College. Students are warming up to the concept.
Shalaka Patarkar is a regular patron, and loves the early morning ride from Mulund station to the college, a distance of about 3 km. She has to make it for the 7 am shift in
college. “I don’t have to deal with the auto-rickshaw guys anymore,” she says. A monthly Cycle Chalao pass is available for Rs 175; Rs 45 for a weekly one; and for those
who opt to ride whenever they feel like, it’s Rs 10 a day.
In fact, the youngsters hit upon the idea of a cycle hire because as students they were quite frustrated with the traffic situation in the city. They were also spending around
Rs 500 each on auto-rickshaws and taxis. Janagam was determined to turn this need into a social enterprise. The three quickly devised a business plan with the faculty of
the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and got working.
The trio surveyed the entire city for hotspots. Dadar, Andheri, the area around St. Xavier’s College in South Mumbai, the Kalina campus of the University of Mumbai, and
Kharghar in distant Navi Mumbai have been identified as potential cycle hubs. Janagam and Gangan are also negotiating with one of the biggest builders in the city, the
Hiranandanis, to start a cycle service within the huge housing complex in Powai.
Even as business development activities gathered steam, Janagam approached the municipal ward offices and the traffic police for permissions and licences. He was in for
a shock. “There is nothing in the statute books of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on cycling. The officials didn’t know how to react to a request like ours,” he
recalls.
India’s financial capital—where congestion, vehicular emission and noise pollution are matters of deep concern—wallows in its inability to comprehend cycle hiring as a
mobility solution. Bangalore and Pune are a shade better on this count. The latter has a short length of cycle-track but has been unable to scale up. In Delhi, too, a cycle
track has come along the pilot bus rapid transit and is immensely popular.
The mobility evangelists are nevertheless pushing for a change in mindsets—and it’s beginning to happen. Officials of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development
Authority (MMRDA), which presides over the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), a sprawling cluster of glass and steel behemoths that house some of the most prestigious
Indian corporate houses, are now all ears for Janagam’s proposal for a cycle hub.
Even the Municipal Corporation and its key outdoor advertising agency, Kshitij Outdoor, is engaging with Cycle Chalao to devise a model based on advertisement panels on
cycles and other strategic locations.
“We have also roped in the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to do a preliminary study on carbon emission and noise pollution levels in Mulund,” says Janagam. Mumbai
has incredibly high noise pollution levels of 90 decibels, when the WHO limits are 45 decibels.
1 of 2 Thursday 02 December 2010 11:25 PM

2. business.outlookindia.com | Pedal Pushers http://business.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?...
Cycle Chalao now has the support of UnLtd India, angel investor and incubator for social entrepreneurs. “I was completely bowled over by the passion and energy with
which this bunch of youngsters is working,” says Pooja Warier, Co-Founder and Director, UnLtd India.
Warier quickly found a mentor for Cycle Chalao in Amitabh Mall, Principal, The Boston Consulting Group. Mall relocated to Mumbai from New York recently and has had
some experience in working with social entrepreneurs in the Big Apple. “I liked the simplicity of the idea,” he says. “And also the fact that it’s not propelled by charity; a
clear revenue model is being perfected.”
Mall is now working with Janagam and the others on a scale-up strategy. They have closely studied the Velib and other models across the world. “A subscriber to our
service now gets unlimited cycling; it’s not based on time or distance travelled,” explains Janagam. They have been quick to learn. And they are also beginning to think big.
http://business.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266837
ABOU T U S | C ON T AC T U S | SU BSC R I BE | AD VER T I SI N G R AT ES | C OPYR I GH T & D I SC LAI M ER | C OM M EN T S POLI C Y
2 of 2 Thursday 02 December 2010 11:25 PM