The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has announced a full scale roll out of their E-Bikes services for first and last mile connectivity across Mumbai on Thursday.
Through these services, 1,000 E-Bikes will cover the commercial and residential areas between 180 bus stops from October. Passengers alighting from buses can use E-Bikes to travel to their destination and back. E-Bikes can be picked up and dropped off at any E-Bike station.
An official from BEST said, "BEST has been doing public trials of this service since June 2022, and these have received a tremendous response with more than 40,000 people registering for it.
Initially, the bikes will be available in Andheri, Vile Parle, Juhu, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra, Mahim, and Dadar, and then expand to the rest of the city. The fleet will grow to 5,000 E-Bikes by Jun 2023.This service will be integrated with the BEST Chalo App soon.
BEST is also planning special travel plans that combine rides on buses and E-Bikes into a single plan. Such integrated services will make it even more convenient to use buses to travel anywhere in Mumbai, and further boost bus ridership."
A senior BEST official explained that the BEST is continuing to used the technology for betterment of travellers. The Chalo App is successful among the travellers as 30 lakh users have downloaded it and more than 25% of bus travellers now use it daily.
The app provides cash and paper free journey. Now, with the E-Bikes, BEST has become India’s first bus transport operator to launch integrated and seamless door to door connectivity."
Senior BEST officials informed that the project has been implemented under the tender ‘Selection Of Service Provider For Deploying E-Scooters for the last-mile connectivity with buses for BEST undertaking’ in partnership with Vogo. BEST is India’s first bus transport operator to offer such integrated first and last mile services.
Key Benefits For Passengers
Seamless and instant connectivity at major bus stops, commercial and residential areas.
Affordable fares – just ₹20 base fare, with Rs 3 per KM travelled and Rs1.50 per minute.
The speed of bikes will be 25 KMPH, for safe travelling.
No air or noise pollution.
Faster travel for everyone with reduced road congestion.
Features E-Bikes
Easy To Use
Driver’s license is not required to operate low-powered E-Bikes. They are accessible to everyone. These E-Bikes are gearless. Anyone who can ride a bicycle can learn to use them within minutes. Use the Vogo App to unlock and ride the E-Bikes, and then lock them again while ending the trip.
Digital Payments
All online payments are accepted.
Battery Safety
Vogo takes several precautions to ensure battery safety throughout the usage and charge cycle. Unlike electric scooters that use heavy duty batteries to power 1,500 watts motors, Vogo E-Bikes use a low-powered battery to power a 250 watts motor.
Bike riders never have to charge batteries as Vogo employs a fully automated charging system.
While electric scooters and cars use rapid charging, which can cause heating up and deterioration of batteries, Vogo uses slow charging to maintain battery health and safety.
How To Use E-Bikes
First Time Users
First time users need to download the Vogo app and complete their one-time online registration.
How To Ride
Use the Vogo app to find the nearest E-Bikes station
The app also displays how many bikes are available at the station, and their current battery level and range.
Users can use the app to unlock a bike and start riding.
They can pause their ride, or end it and lock the E-Bike using the app.
Payments are processed automatically from the user’s Vogo wallet at the end of the ride.
