The NMT cell report, which estimates a capital of Rs 24 crore to set up the plan, expects annual operational cost of Rs 20.07 crore, which will be offset by an annual revenue of Rs 35.07 crore. The report estimates the need of 20,000 bicycles and 1,300 cycle stands and one lakh subscribers.
The civic administration is looking for sponsors. Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi said the PMC will have to look for a client for execution of the scheme.
The experience from other cities, especially Paris, shows that a financially self-supporting system that gives advertisement space to operators has been successful. It can work equally well here, said Ranjit Gadgil, a member of the NMT cell.
The capital break-up is Rs 10 crore for procuring the bicycles, Rs 13 crore for cycle stations and Rs 1 crore for smart card infrastructure and branding. The operational cost includes Rs 40 lakh for cycle maintenance, Rs 1.5 crore for cycle replacement, Rs 1.3 crore for station maintenance and Rs 17.5 crore for salaries of employees.
The expected revenue includes Rs 31.2 crore from advertising, Rs 1.17 crore from kiosk rental, Rs 2.5 crore from subscription and Rs 20 lakh from bicycle rentals.
The scheme can be made self-financing by raising money at a rate of Rs 2,400 per sq ft per day per station.
For making cycling accessible and affordable, an annual subscription fee of Rs 250 has been planned. For subscribed users, no rental would be charged for the first half-hour after the cycle is rented. Thereafter, they would pay Rs 10 for every half-hour. Occasional users would be charged Re 1 for the first half-hour and Rs 10 for every additional half-hour.
The rationale is to encourage people to return cycles to the nearest station as soon as they can. Half an hour allows one to ride about 5 km and should be sufficient for most trips, said Gadgil.
Among the terms of reference for the scheme, the report says there would be a condition that the cycles be given only to those above 12 years of age.
Though the NMT projects have got a boost from the World Bank, additional city engineer Vivek Kharwadkar said, The WB funds of over Rs 160 crore would be used only for infrastructure. It will only be after completion of the infrastructure that the scheme will be promoted.
Gadgil said the mere availability of infrastructure would not encourage people from shifting to cycling; there should be motivational schemes too. The PMC has already signed an MoU with Netherland-based Interface for Cycling Expertise (I-ce), an international NGO, for low-cost mobility and integrated cycling planning.