How can we make bike sharing in Bangalore work?

How can we make bike sharing in Bangalore work?

Last week, I had gone over why Bangalore’s bike sharing has no choice but to be different from any existing bike share elsewhere in the world. Today, I will go over some possible solutions to the issues mentioned.

Costs:

Costs are a major factor in every decision we make, so it was important for me how costs are affected when coming up with the solutions.

Market Segment:

Identifying the market segment is a very important decision as it decides the kind of decisions we make. It determines the kinds of bikes we buy, any special features an app may have, even the locations of the bike stations. In the previous blog post, I identified the 3 main market segments: families in apartment complexes, commuters, and last mile for public transport.

I have decided that the market segments to design the bike share around are the largest segments, public transport and commuters. Why not clump the two together? Morning commuters, instead of taking their own cars to work, use a combination of the bike share and public transport to get to work faster and efficiently. There is also the usual last mile solution for the general public transportation customers who want to travel within a neighborhood. So, two birds with one stone.

Location:

Now that we have identified which market segment is best, the locations need to serve them where needed.

Most commuters live and work next to public transportation, but there is quite some distance between their homes, which are inside residential neighborhoods, and the bus stops or metro stations, which are on the main roads. So we may have one node (station) inside the neighborhood and one node next to the bus stop. This way, the commuter may take a bike, which may be right next to his house, and bike all the way to the bus stop where he leaves the bike at the node there. The commuter then takes the bus to work. If needed, he may rent a bike at the bus stop next to work and bike all the way to his office. This is just one way commuters may use the bike share system along with public transportation. Due to the heavy traffic, oftentimes it maybe easier to simply bike all the way to work.

Based on this scenario, I identified 3 locations: inside a neighborhood, next to public transportation stops, next to office spaces.

These locations also help as a last mile solution. Public transportation helps with travelling between neighborhoods. The bike share helps with travelling within a single neighborhood. This way, we can extend the reach of the public transportation system. This means that we must place the nodes next to public transportation. This works with the commuter solution as well.

Bike Safety:

To minimize costs, we must keep theft and vandalism to a minimum. One way is to not make the bikes stand out, like those of other bike sharing systems. If we buy commoditized bikes which look like any other bike out there, there is not added incentive to steal the bike. There will also have to be bike locks and we must also keep the amount of technology on the bike to a minimum.

The other thing is to prevent the customers from stealing the bike, and I have determined that this requires an app which keeps track of where the bike is. This is done by keeping track of all current transactions so that we know whom the bike is with, the customer or the bike share system.

Competition:

There is not much competition from other companies for the bike share system in India. Whatever the case, it is important to differentiate ourselves from other companies that have already tried a bike share or are trying one right now.

To differentiate ourselves and also to bring costs down, I have thought about working with local vendors, who can help with hosting the bikes at their location as well as keeping them safe.

Product Design:

To keep costs down, I have decided that manufacturing my own custom bikes is impractical. Using the usual mass produced and commoditized bikes will be cheaper. These bikes can also be repaired easily and cheaply as we can find always find interchangeable parts on the market.

Another thing I considered is the right bike for women. A common attire for women in India is the “sari”. The drapes of the sari can interfere with the bike frame when cycling, so there is a different cycle design for them. But since I am targeting commuters as well, most women will be wearing “salwars” and not saris. Salwars are less elaborate and are similar to a skirt. So I do not need to explicitly buy a few bikes just to caters saris as the trend is towards salwars.

Below is a typical bike designed for women who wear saris.

Technology:

Smartphones have become very common in India. To make the bike sharing process easier, I have decided to use an app. Through the app, I can keep track of bike transactions between the vendors, customers, and the company, I can keep track of where is bike is, and many other functionalities. There may also be a bike stand to park the bikes.

There are no solar panels, 3G connectivity, GPS, or smart lock as they are too expensive and unnecessary.