Freewheeling : "Green Bangkok Bike"

[pepe]

Hi

Found these three links on Bangkok - "Green Bangkok Bike"

http://www.thainewsland.com/?l=en&a=337774
http://www.bangkokpost.com/150808_News/15Aug2008_news97.php
http://greenconsumerism.net/green-urban-living/new-bike-lane-in-bangkok/

Looks like the Bangkok metro-authorities have backed this project . They've sponsored 300 cycles & the near zero pricing incentivizes this mode.  They've restricted themselves to certain parts of Bangkok & a nearby Island. They've reused existing cycling lanes in the main city & dedicated cycle-lanes in the island. Their target crowds are tourists & Bangkok locals alike. There are a few drawbacks & safety-related cribs too. Personally, the budget figure comes as a rude-shock. Read on for all this & more.

More research underway on Shanghai. Will post later.

Warm Regards
Pradeep

On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 1:02 PM, Neha Karajgikar <neha.ka...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey, put my name in one of the task groups.  I would say pilot planning, if we're planning to approach mindtree.

On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 6:45 PM, Ananth R <mail.a...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey all,
The meeting moved to Breadworks Boulangerie off Lavelle Road, owing to Koshy's being at it's Sunday evening capacity.
Attendees : Ananth, Pooja, Deepak, Shekhar, Ajith, Kiran, Shridar, Neha, Nishanth, Uthara, Supreeth

Issues discussed :
Pilot : We preferably need to start a pilot and contact the govt authorities simultaneously. The pilot would involve corporates having cycle stations at their offices. The employees can utilise the cycles on a pick-up / drop-off facility. They are responsible for the bicycles in the time that they borrow it. We need to set up the plan for the companies and provide them with guidelines under which the scheme can operate. We also send out surveys to corporates and mine data from them. Supreeth will be checking on colleges, and will run the survey by them.

Beyond the pilot : We need to look at the bigger picture, and what we need for bangalore. We need to explore options of how the scheme is marketable. Various aspects to highlight are :
1) Perfect last-mile solution in conjunction with public transport.
2) Cost effective and fast
3) Cool (we make it cool, ie)
4) Environment friendly

Pitfalls:
1) Safety
2) Mindset change among citizens
3) Theft and vandalism
4) Maintainance of bikes


What we missed at the meeting:
Expert advice on technicalities. We also needed cost estimations before we can approach corporates for the same.
We need to enroll corporates into the benefits... Some options :
1) CSR - company doing their bit for the environment
2) Employee motivation
3) Branding on cycles - advertising for company
4) Publicity - get media to notice the initiative the company is taking for their employees and the environment

We need to draw up a plan for the corporates that covers ;
1) Guidelines for operation
2) Costs involved, various factors
3) Safety guidelines
4) Setting up of team and contact point at the company. Informing them about the kind of data we need

The volunteers were split up based on the tasks involved :
Research on existing systems around the world : Ajith, Kiran, Ananth
Survey design : Deepak, Ananth
Volunteer organisation ; Pooja, Ananth
Pilot planning : Shekhar, Ananth
As more areas come up, the people will join in on different activities. Those of you interested in contributing to the topics above can also let us know.

Thanks,
Ananth

On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 12:28 AM, Rohan Kini <rohan...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry guys. Nikhil and I were unable to make it today. How did the meeting go ?

On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 1:38 AM, Ananth <mail.a...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey folk,
Sorry about setting this up on such short notice...
I'm setting up this meeting for a few reasons... A lot of people from
varied groups are interested in contributing to the project. I would
like us all to meet and get to know each other. I will be putting up
some of the ideas so far on the blog. I'd like those interested to
take a poke at these ideas, think of the pros and cons and come to the
meeting armed with their own ideas.
Looking forward to seeing you all there...
Regards,
Ananth

On Dec 6, 1:03 am, Ananth R <mail.anant...@gmail.com> wrote:
> freewheelin...@googlegroups.com, you are invited to
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> Title: Freewheeling : Meeting at Koshy's
> Time: Sun Dec 7 18:30 – 19:30 (Timezone: India Standard Time)
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> Description: Meeting to discuss Freewheeling : Brainstorming on ideas and  
> evolving a strategy.
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--

With regards,

Neha Karajgikar

--
Pradeep P

[uthara narayanan]

Even pondichery has a lot of cyclists i have seen....but then aurovillers mostly 

my contact in IBM wants cost estimates ....then will fwd it to 'RESO' team....so ananth i guess we r waiting till saturday for tat..?

[pepe]

Hi

To resolve some IBM-acronym-gobbledeygook, the "RESO" team is the "Real Estate Site Operations" team. They handle all site-related operations for IBM offices in Bangalore. If we can present a concrete version of this idea to them, we can shoot for a pilot operation with IBM.

I guess the IBM Manyata Campus in Hebbal could be one good place to star this. Manyata is a relatively new campus, a year of two old. The IBM D Blocks are a good 2 km away from the gate. To my knowledge, there is no official transport option from the gate to these blocks. All IBM-shuttles stop at the gate. However, autos carrying employees, cars & private transportation with passes are allowed inside. We also share the campus with other companies who may not need the cycle option. We may need to talk to the campus maintenance folks too in conjunction with the RESO guys.

I missed the inaugural last weekend. So I'm not sure if this was discussed - Infosys has had bicycles for a mode of transport in most of its large campuses in Bangalore, Pune & Hyd. If there's noone else from Infy in the group, I could ask around & find out some of the details about their scheme.

Warm Regards
Pradeep

On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 7:30 AM, uthara narayanan <utharan...@gmail.com> wrote:

Even pondichery has a lot of cyclists i have seen....but then aurovillers mostly 

my contact in IBM wants cost estimates ....then will fwd it to 'RESO' team....so ananth i guess we r waiting till saturday for tat..?

--
Pradeep P