Progress in India

Over the course of the past four weeks, I have been working on setting up an active bike sharing system in Bangalore with the help of people I know in the city. I realized that the best way to learn and research the unique issues that a bike share in Bangalore would face was with a hands-on approach - I have mentioned the most important ones to consider in the last two blog posts. I am currently running the bike share like a company, so I cannot share too many details about the business plan and other details yet, but I will still try to convey an idea of the progress so far.

By the end of April, I will be running a dry-run of the bike sharing system to better identify any specific issues Bangalore might have and to gather data needed on bike movement and logistics. It also helps gauge people’s reactions to the business. It will be run as a “Minimum Viable Business.”

At the beginning of the research project, my Dad had offered to buy plane tickets to Bangalore so that I could conduct research “on site.” I told my Dad that instead of a plane ticket to India, it would be more effective if I stayed in San Jose and ran things remotely with help from on site people. I now have $4,000 that I didn’t use for plane tickets to devote to my on the ground endeavour. In fact, I have used a part of that money to hire a consultant to run the day to day operations of the bike share.

By collaborating with local experts and mentors, we chose the dry-run to operate in the AECS Layout neighborhood of the city. It is a huge residential neighborhood where people need to walk substantial distances to access public transportation, which is on the main road. A few miles to the north there is the “International Tech-Park Bangalore Limited” where all the local tech companies are at. It is well suited for the market segment I chose: commuters to and from work.

I have just finished building a simple version of the app that will be used in the dry-run. It is web-based and works across platforms, which makes it easier for everyone. This way, it is also accessible for those without touch smartphones. You can check out the website at the link below. It is still in its early stages, and I suggest that you use the app on a mobile phone:

www.QuikBikes.com

Finally, I have obtained a license from the government to run the bike-share as a small business, so I will be ready to deploy the system by the end of April.