Bicycle track plan remains stuck despite promises:Metro and bus connectivity proposed; delay in fresh tender raises serious questions

The ‘Public Bike Sharing Project’ was launched in Bhopal with the major objective of reducing pollution and improving connectivity for public transport. However, it fell victim to poor planning. Today, the situation is that the old company’s tender has expired, and the company has collected all 500 smart cycles and deposited them in the ISBT yard to become scrap. Around 10 crore rupees were spent on these cycles and stands. It is surprising that this is the situation even after 3 lakh registered members. The biggest failure behind this was the lack of a solid model for advertising and revenue, which resulted in an earning of merely 3 lakh rupees in 5 years. It’s not that people in Bhopal don’t want to cycle. We surveyed three major areas of the city, BHEL, Govindpura, and Bhopal Talkies, between 9 AM and 12 PM. Here, 100 to 200 people were found cycling daily. All of them were riding private cycles. This means that if the corporation provides cycles here, this number could increase further. Bhaskar Expert – Mayank Dubey, Centre of Excellence in City Logistics Management Fact File Bicycles – 500 Registered Members – 3 Lakh Bicycles Ridden (km) – 1.14 Lakh CO2 Saved – 4 Lakh kg People in Bhopal want to cycle, but safety is the biggest concern Project Flaws Risk of accidents, no maintenance of poor-quality bicycles Reserve tracks, connect with metro routes and bus stops Omission… Why no new tender in time?
The company’s tender was expiring in November 2025, so considering the metro’s launch, a new tender should have been issued on time. The 12 km special cycle track has now been encroached upon. We have identified four new routes4 new routes have been identified, including MP Nagar, 10 Number, and Chunabhatti. There are no riders on the old routes, so we will shift the bicycles to other locations. – Anju Arun Kumar, CEO, Smart City