What for ?
For implementing my 6 YEAR
old suggestion to provide subsidy
in e-cycle segment
Context :
Delhi govt offers subsidy
of Rs 5,500 for first 10,000 buyers of e-cycles /
BS / 07 April 2022
Extact :
Ø In a big push to electric
vehicles, Delhi government on Thursday announced
that it will provide a subsidy of Rs
5,500 each for the first 10,000 buyers of e-cycles in the city.
Ø The first 1,000 buyers of passenger
e-cycles will also be given an additional
subsidy of Rs 2,000 under the Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy,
transport minister Kailash
Gahlot said, claiming that Delhi has become the first state in the country to provide
subsidy in e-cycle segment.
Ø The Delhi Cabinet has also okayed
subsidy on purchase of heavy duty cargo
e-cycles and e-carts for
commercial uses, Gahlot said. The subsidy on cargo e-cycles will be Rs 15,000 each for
first 5,000 buyers. The subsidy was earlier provided to individual buyers of
e-carts but now a company or corporate house buying these vehicles will also be provided a subsidy of Rs 30,000, he said.
Ø Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
said e-cycles will help the residents reduce the use of polluting vehicles.
MY
TAKE :
Extract :
# ROLE OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
Encourage " Bike Share Taxi " ventures using Electric
Bicycles by offering them
all sorts of incentives , Such as :
* 50 % subsidy on
refitting of newly purchased plain bicycles with
GeoOrbital Front
Wheels
# ROLE OF CITY MUNICIPALITIES
* Municipalities to make
available free " Parking " spaces , all over their cities
for such
ventures .
* Give 10 % rebate in Property
Tax to Co-op Housing Societies which provide
400 sq ft space to " Bike Share Taxi " ventures , within their compounds ,
FREE OF RENTAL
* " Bike
Share Taxi " scheme may be modeled around similar successful
scheme BIXI of Montreal Municipality
This simple
innovation / intervention , has the potential to :
# Dramatically reduce traffic congestion in big cities
# Reduce demand for new air-polluting cars using fossil fuel
# Even reduce dependence on Public Transport ( Bus / Metro / Local
trains /
Taxis )
# Reduce need for car parking spaces on streets
# Improve health of citizens who switch over from car driving to
GeoOrbital bicycle pedaling !
#
Become a Flag-Bearer to National Electric Mobility
Mission
Plan ( NEMMP ) which aims to
put 6 million Electric Vehicles on our roads by
2020 ; totally possible if those vehicles are " Electric Bicycles ", not Cars !
Extract :
Ø
I urge BMC
/ Maharashtra Government to consider following suggestions :
# Construct 40 Meter wide ,
light-load-carrying ( LLC ) roads over all
the railway tracks in Mumbai ( may be totalling 100 Km ? ),
exclusively for bicycles ( not for those 17 lakh motor-cycles )
# These “ Overhead Bicycle Tracks ( LLC = OBT
) “ could be covered
with roofs made of TESLA’s Solar Roof-Tiles , to generate Solar
Power .
In Gujarat , some irrigation canals
have been covered by Solar Panels
, in order to generate power and reduce water-loss due to
evaporation .
With TESLA
Roof-Tiles , there is no need to install separate
conventional Solar
Panels
# Besides generating Solar
Power , the slanting roofs over LLCs ,
will prevent
the train tracks below from getting flooded during heavy
rains .
Rain-Water-Collection gutters along both sides of the roof will
enable
“ Rain Water Harvesting “
# Provide LIFTS ( to take the bicycles
, up or down ) at all Entry – Exit
points
# Also provide along the LLCs , “ Bicycle Stands “ at every 1 km
distance
for parking “ Bicycle Taxies “
( BIXI
/ http://montreal.bixi.com/en )
# On
the LLC , provide a separate LANE / TRACK (
in each direction )
for ordinary bicycles fitted with Geo-Orbital Electric Wheel , which
would enable a rider to go 20 miles at a speed of 20 MPH – and 50
miles if you also pedal a little bit !
Extract :
Highlights :
One innovative idea is to
compensate employees for cycling to work, with Van Veldhoven
proposing a reimbursement
of 19 cents ( Rs 15 )
per kilometre cycled from home and back
Van
Veldhoven is to discuss the proposal and other ways of promoting bicycle use
through fiscal rewards such
as subsidies
to buy bicycles " with
major national employers and small and medium enterprises," her
ministry said in a statement
More than half of people's daily trips in the Netherlands
are less than 7.5 kilometres and more than half live less than 15 kilometres from work.
"With the development of the electric bicycle, this
distance can easily be covered," the ministry added, saying nearly 100 million euros have been budgeted to
increase bicycle roads and its parking space.
Now , let us assume that Mumbaikars travel 10
km each way to and from work place
That is 20 km per day
If we were to reimburse a
Mumbaikar opting to use an ELECTRIC BICYCLE , at just Rs 5 per km ,
he would get Rs 100 per day ( @ Rs 5 per km ) by way of reimbursement .
For 300 days in a year , they would earn Rs 30,000
Now , under FAME Scheme , government is already giving a
subsidy of Rs 29,000 to a buyer of Electric Motor Bicycles
But India’s ATHERENERGY E Bike is priced at Rs 1.09 Lakh [ e340 model ]
That means , after the subsidy , a buyer
would need to put up Rs 80,000 from his own pocket
But, in 3 years’ time, a buyer would get Rs
90,000 by way of reimbursement
Then there is a cheaper alternative in the
form of :
coupled to
* a standard 26 inch bicycle (
HERO / HERCULES etc ) selling for Rs 10,000
- total of Rs 80,000 / - ( Range of 12 miles
/ recharge of 3 hours from domestic
outlet )
Dear
Shri Gahlotji,
There is no doubt , before long, your
initiative will be copied by other States –
quite possibly by incorporating the
other suggestions listed above
But the success of your just announced
electric bicycle subsidy scheme depends
on making every building a “ Battery
Charging Station “ , as suggested in my
following e-mail :
Although Central Housing Minister has talked about this
on a number of occasions,
there is no progress
I urge you to implement
this at the level of Delhi Government, without waiting for
Central initiative
With regards,
Related Readings :
Extract :
Ø The Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways has given its approval for the construction of an elevated cycle track between Geeta Colony and Shastri Park.
Ø
In
an attempt to keep cyclists and pedestrians away from the congestion and
pollution of the motor traffic, the National Highways Authority of India has
proposed a plan to construct
the track vertically above the proposed highway.
It will allow them to move without any obstruction from the traffic on the
road.
Ø
The
elevated cycle track will also mitigate the
safety concerns of the cyclists, as it will be completely segregated from the motorised traffic.
Ø
If all goes according to a proposed
plan by the city authorities of Delhi, then the capital will soon get a
first-of-its-kind 6-km elevated cycle track.
Ø
And since
it will be completely covered, it will even sport a solar paneled roof
!
Ø The spacious corridor, which
would be 20-feet-wide
Extract :
Ø We’ve heard of Beijing’s nine million bikes and China referred
to as the “Kingdom of Bicycles”.
Ø However, the emergence of popular
bike-sharing schemes, frustration with gridlocked roads, and efforts
to tackle the country’s air pollution crisis are all helping to rekindle China’s love affair with cycling.
Ø The southeast city of Xiamen has gone
even further with the construction of a 7.6km elevated
skyway for bikes –
the world’s longest elevated cycle path.
Ø Connecting the major residential and
business sectors of the city, the aerial cycleway sits below Xiamen’s existing
overhead bus transport system. At 4.8 m wide it
has capacity for over 2000 bikes at a time, and will join up with 11 bus stations and two subway
stations. As well as space to park bikes, it will also have bikes available to hire.
Ø Designed and completed in six months,
the project was the latest in a number of raised cycleways by
Danish architects Dissing+Weitling. Another project, the ‘Bicycle Snake’, was completed in 2014. The 230 m bridge
connects Copenhagen’s harbour area to the city.
Ø Copenhagen had already cemented its
status as a bike-friendly city with a cycle super-highway that connects the city with the suburban
town of Albertslund, 22 km
away. The eventual aim is to build a
network of 28 cycle superhighways, covering 500 km. It is estimated
the network will increase the number of cycle lanes in Greater Copenhagen by
15% and reduce public expenditure by €40.3m annually thanks to improved health.
Ø Meanwhile, London is among other cities considering
proposals for elevated bike paths.
Architect Norman Foster unveiled plans to create a 220 km car-free cycle network around the city and surrounds. The
city has already introduced a network of cycle superhighways on roads.
Designing Cycling
Infrastructure
