Last Mile Connectivity Redefined

 

The introduction of electric bike-sharing services such as Yulu or Bounce has come as a big relief to app-driven millennials and Generation Z in Bengaluru and metro cities. 

These platforms aim to provide college students and young professionals, who commute by bus or metro, with vital last-mile connectivity from bus stands and metro stations to their homes and offices.

However, thanks to the Indian jugaad mentality, the users have discovered that the utility value of these diminutive battery-driven cycles goes way beyond the stated objective of last-mile connectivity. They began using it for joyrides, and short-haul errands and novice two-wheeler riders found the low-seated Yulu bikes were a good way to hone their balancing skills, as they can always put down their feet if things go wrong. 

While riding these bikes safety takes a back seat. Hardly any of the riders wear a helmet and many of them appear to be underage for a driving licence. In the hands of some overweight riders, these bikes appear like beasts of burden.  

Moreover, these bikes, especially the Yulu ones, appear so frail that even a minor collision with autorickshaws could lead to loss of life. They also lack other safety features such as indicators or rear-view mirrors that could help them avoid getting knocked down from the rear. Due to their small size, they do not meet the eye levels of bigger vehicles and run the risk of being trampled upon by burly trucks.

But despite all these shortcomings, these bikes are getting popular by the day and caught the fancy of startups looking to reduce their carbon footprint. Food delivery aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato, and quick commerce firm Dunzo have also decided to hitch a ride with Yulu, to improve their carbon footprint. This has led to an exponential increase in the number of Yulu vehicles, and delivery boys often lug out their voluminous bags onto these tiny bikes during their distribution rounds.

However, this proliferation of bikes has given rise to a host of problems, both for the companies and residents. The companies face the challenge of misuse, theft, and vandalism. 

They claim some users park bikes in a wayward manner at flyovers, footpaths, and residential areas, with total disregard to road discipline and civic sense. For the companies, it is a challenge to locate the parked bikes using GPS and related tracking technologies. Their recovery trucks have to travel long distances to find and collect the bikes. 

For many residents, these bikes are a nuisance as they often get abandoned by unscrupulous users right next to their doorstep. Though companies claim they penalize users who park bikes away from designated spaces, the menace continues.

In fact, in Bengaluru wherever you go, you are never away from an abandoned Yulu or Bounce bike. Recently there was even a social media post of a Yulu bike found in a lake bed in Bengaluru when it was getting cleaned up!

Another major challenge is theft. Though the companies have technology in place to prevent someone from stealing a bike in toto, they still have to contend with thefts of parts such as batteries, tyres, and headlights. Companies often end up spending crores to replace the missing parts and file numerous cases in police stations. 

But despite all these shortcomings, electric bike shared mobility platforms offer a welcome relief from haggling with auto drivers or a long wait for buses for last-mile connectivity. 

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Sweaters in May

 Bengaluru recently went through a May-December romance. Now it has nothing to do with what a Mills and Boon novel has to offer, but it is about the freak weather this year. In May we were experiencing a December-like chill, forcing us to take out the sweaters and jackets that were mothballed a barely a month or two ago.

May began from what April had left off – sweltering afternoons with some relief during nights. Fans and air conditioners were sweating it out throughout the day. Those venturing out in afternoons were even witnessing mirages, something associated with more arid climes.

This continued for nearly a week and then Cyclone Asani happened in the distant Bay of Bengal. The cyclonic formation brought rain clouds to Bangalore. People cheered as it was a harbinger of some glad tidings.  Soon one started feeling the cool breeze and the vague smell of petrichor. This was followed by thunder and lightning and the skies opened up.

Pre-monsoon showers are not uncommon in Bengaluru. They are often referred to as ‘mango rains’ as they help in the flowering of mangoes and keep the mercury levels within limits.

But this year something unusual happened. The rains just did not just bring respite from the heat, it also ensured that the mercury dropped drastically and the maximum temperature plunged by 9 degrees Celsius on May 10. It was the lowest in this century.

Showers became a regular feature every evening, while the days continued to swelter. Social media was awash with memes of Bengaluru having three seasons in a day – summer after 10 am, monsoon in the evening, and winter at night.

Bengaluru Twitter began proudly flaunting the screenshots of live temperatures and boasting how they were even cooler than various hill stations in India. The reactions it evoked were sharp – ranging from admiration to envy/hostility, especially from our countrymen up north, where the maximum temperature refuses to come below 40 degrees Celsius.

The weathermen explained this bountiful wet spell to two cyclonic circulations – one off Tamil Nadu in the Bay of Bengal and the other near Lakshadweep Islands.

However, it also exposed the city’s infrastructure fault lines. It showed that a mere half-an-hour shower was enough to bring the city’s roads to their knees, and fill the underpasses with waist-high water. Many low-lying areas got inundated and drains were clogged on almost every street.

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