[V.Narayan]

A first right step in the right direction for this country. These pioneer projects may or may not succeed (theft, space, willful damage to cycles etc) but they are laying the ground for future success some years down the line. The biggest risk to these initiatives and to the cyclists remain our traffic conditions and that sadly will be the slowest to change. I compliment these folks and wish them success and lady luck.

[anand.shankar82]

A great initiative to try and get motor-vehicles off the roads and help reduce the carbon-emissions in our already polluted cities. The only concern I have is whether these PEDL stations are guarded because our cities are full of miscreants who will show up with tools to steal these good-looking bikes

The other concern of course is for cyclists themselves on our roads. I have been riding to-from work daily 25-30kms/day for the past 2 years which comes up to almost 12,000kms in Pune city and I have a letter of request to all my fellow motor-vehicle drivers/riders which I have collated over the 2 years of experience on our roads

1. I am fully aware that you hate the fact that I share the road with you all. However, you also would be hating the trucks, PMPML buses, cabs, 6-seaters, Piaggio Apes and assortment of other vehicles too. So, please ask yourselves, do I cause traffic jams on my cycle or do these other folks? Then why the hatred ... all I need is about a metre on the left-corner of the road which I am sure you can spare

2. To my 2-wheeled brothers/sisters, please try not to overtake a cyclist from the left. I am already trying desperately to stay on the left-most corner of the road so as not to face the ire of your monster-machines

3. To my 4-wheeled brothers/sisters, I am forced sometimes to use flyovers (like the Holkar bridge) or underpasses (like the several near the Mumbai highway) and I am aware that I cannot climb at your pace. However, please also try to remember that while your cars are powered by 1.0L+ engines with almost limitless power, I am powered by a 100cc human heart and 500cc human lungs (not a doctor and not sure if proportions/volumes are correct here). I am trying my best and coming right behind me and honking will not increase my rate of climb

4. When I am on the left-most corner of the road (with no room to move further left) and you honk like there is no tomorrow, what is the expected action/response from me? Please clarify so I can do the needful

5. If I have to merge into traffic at a T-junction turning rightward, then please let me quickly slide away to the left corner of the road once I merge. I am not trying to be in your way but desperately trying to avoid your huge, heavy vehicles

Sorry if this sounded like a rant from a cyclist or if it was , but please live and let live. I am not the cause for your traffic jams and hence should be considered your friendly neighborhood non-emitting buddy

[akmehta]

Good go-green initiative from the firm.
Wish we come across the service soon in Delhi-NCR region as well

[neon_daytona]

Does anyone know the brand of these cycles and where can I buy one of these? For a relaxed ride around the smaller towns this would be a good buy.

I like the simple Unisex designs, easy adjustable seat height, upright handles, disc/drum brakes, no gears and the most important airless tires.

All these probably mean lesser maintenance. As a kid and now as a father, I remember that the most time in the maintenance of a cycle is spent on
1) Puncture
2) Brakes (V or rubber shoe type) that just do not serve the purpose or rubbing in the wrong locations.
3) Chain to be tightened or the gears do not slot in correct position

I have found some cycles with double disk brakes and no gears, but then nothing with an airless tires in <15k.

[sbanerjee]

In Calcutta, Rajarhat and Salt Lake area this service has caught up now. Mainly available near tech parks. Mostly used by the employees during evening for joy rides, and some by remote housing colony dwellers to catch late night movies. And, its free. By free I mean we are getting Pedl bikes for Re 1.00 for half an hour.

[sachinayak]

Thought of sharing a pic, I had taken a while back during my morning walk. Doesn't it make a pleasant sight?
Wide roads, extensive tree cover, more walkers than cars on the road and ready-to-hire cycles? Picture perfect

[vjkamal]

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

Does it have intermediate temporary locking option?

For example, if I have to go to a grocery shop 1 km away buy something and come back. Does it allow me to lock the cycle while I am in the shop so that nobody runs away with cycle I have hired?

You can very well do it. You just have to park it, lock manually and continue with your shopping while your trip time would be still running. During this time, the bicycle will be unavailable for others. Once you are done with your shopping, you have to unlock via the app/ website and continue your trip. As your trip ends, you have to manually lock the bicycle and tap on 'End trip' on your app/ browser. Your account will be debited accordingly and now the bicycle is available for others to use.

[King_pin09]

Well, PEDL has been providing cycle sharing services in Palava City (outskirts of Mumbai) since 2-3 months as of now, though I do not recollect the exact date of commencement.

I have been using this cycle services intermittently and find there are a lot of takers in this region. The service provider has denoted certain stations where these cycles are parked. One has to hold a valid paytm account to start using these services. There is no dedicated pedl app as of now. Instead one has to enter into the website www.pedl.in using their smart phone browser and link your Paytm account. The website helps locate cycles around you by using GPS. Once a cycle is located it can be unlocked by scanning the QR codes affixed on the rear of each cycle. One has to end the trip by keying appropriate button on the website and lock the cycle. Amounts are deducted directly from your Paytm account. The present rates in Palava city are Re 1 per slot of 30 minutes.

Overall a very smooth affair once the process is understood. I am very happy using their services.

[TusharK]

Mahindra World City, Chennai (MWC Chennai) has partnered with PEDL by Zoomcar to introduce cycle sharing service for residents and visitors. The service will be available within and around the integrated city.



As part of the initiative, 200 GPS-tracked PEDL bicycles have been deployed at MWC Chennai on a trial basis. Users can book these bikes using inbuilt smart locks via a mobile app. The cycles can be unlocked by scanning a QR code using a mobile device. The bicycles feature custom designed aluminium alloy frames, drum brakes, anti-slip chains, airless solid tyres, height adjustable seats and multi-purpose baskets. The company has also harnessed their IoT platform incorporating real-time GPS tracking, solar battery charging and a built-in alarm into the cycles.



Zoomcar launched its PEDL cycle sharing service in October 2017. The service is currently available in 10 cities - Gurgaon, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.




Link to Team-BHP News

[arvind71181]

Good start, as I believe it makes much more sense to use these bicycles inside sprawling communities and office spaces as this helps improve the last mile connectivity as this would be better that the shuttle services, if provided. Hope this succeeds.

Also, as this is within the campus, stealing it, might becoming tougher?!

[jpcoolguy]

As an introductory offer, they are providing cycles at INR 1 for half an hour. Some of my colleagues have used this and were all praises about this service, since the Autorickshaws inside the campus charges atrociously. And guess what the auto drivers have already done a strike last week against this PEDL service by Zoomcar.

[greenhorn]

My Wife appears to have become a big fan of this, and has taken to this with full enthusiasm. I wonder what PEDL's endgame is ?

[deep_bang]

Used pedl today at IISc campus and it is a big hit here. There was an event here and so was probably crowded for that reason, but the system worked flawlessly. A number of pedl points within 100 meters. The app also indicates how many cycles were available at any particular location with a map - so quite easy to find and check out a cycle. All you need is to associate your app with paytm and paytm will be billed directly.

Cost Rs 1 per half hour - dead cheap. Perhaps it was an introductory offer.

Quality - very good. No gears. Brakes were not sharp, but for slow leasure cycling it's adequate.

Seats - comfortable.

[rohan_iitr]

My car is away for a few days (for some body work).

So I decided to make use of the services of Yulu - an app based cycle rental service, similar to PEDL.

I stay and work in Electronic City, so my commute is 3 kms one way.

I don't remember when was the last time I had used a cycle on the road, probably 20 years back (during college days).

But I really enjoyed the cycling experience, especially since the weather is pleasant in December.

The cycles are basic (single gear) unisex cycles. Some cycles are well maintained, some are abused or broken. So, it was a mixed experience.

Overall, I find the experience better than struggling with auto rickshaws. Commute time is almost similar, you get to burn some calories (especially on inclines) and the rental charges are dirt cheap.

Just wish that they increase the number of cycles and maintain them in good condition.

Rohan

[ksameer1234]

Just got en email from Zoomcar Pedl with below text:

In the 12 months since launching India’s first dockless cycle sharing service, PEDL has officially served over 3 million bookings Pan-India. As the leader in personal micro-mobility across the country, it is clear we would not be there without you, our amazing customers. Your suggestions and inputs along the way helped ensure our service evolved along with your requirements.

As you likely witnessed over the past year, Zoomcar continuously introduced new features and offerings to improve the overall PEDL experience. Whether through a more flexible end-trip mechanism or through a pioneering, industry-leading subscription model, the Zoomcar team always sought to push the boundaries on the cycle sharing experience.

Despite these improvements, one area where we still have work to do is on the quality of the cycle itself. While Zoomcar has iterated on several cycle designs with a variety of different cycle manufacturing partners, we’ve yet to arrive at an optimal solution that will help us to deliver a consistently excellent customer experience at a meaningful scale.

Given this reality, the Zoomcar team will be putting an interim stop to our services Pan-India by December 21st while we revamp the quality of our cycle. While we don’t have a definitive timeframe in place for our re-launch, we’re looking to bring a new and improved cycle out to the market later. To this end, we will send out periodic updates on our progress.

For those of you who recently signed up for a PEDL subscription, our team will connect later this week with a refund or a similar in-kind offer.

To all our dedicated and loyal PEDL users, we appreciate your patience and support as we upgrade our offering. Zoomcar remains as committed as ever to India’s emerging micro-mobility ecosystem and we look forward to leading the self-drive mobility pack well into the next decade and beyond.

Pedl service has been expanding nicely in Pune since past six months. I wonder why stop this suddenly. Also, what happens to the existing cycles