Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Cylcing practice at the St. Xavier's Jesuits house: PremalJyoti

A student inflating his cycle tyres on his own.
The cycle parking stand at the rear of the building

PremalJyoti, the front facade of the beautiful building by Architect Hasmukh Patel




It was an interesting discovery when, me and Katharine walked into this interesting piece of architecture as we were observing the cyclists in the university area.



We found out that all the 25 resident brothers, under scholistics training in the Jesuits house, are given cycles so that they can use cycle as the mode of commuting in the city. The cycles are then used and maintained by the brothers themselves. Their are 15 cycles at the moment and 25 brothers, so some of them share theire cycles.




Fr. Dinesh Braganza
When we went again to see the Father who looks after the cycle sharing every year, we met Fr. Dinesh Braganza, who gave us a very interesting insight into the practice of cycling in the house.

When he was student here, they used to have picnics on cycles and used to go for longer trips of 30-40 kms. He feels that now a "motor bike as a status" thing has made huge difference to the number of cyclists. "People now have a poor sense of self-esteem".
According to him, for a motorist driving a vehicle, the only aim while driving is reaching his destination as fast as possible, where as,
"a cyclist has a passion for the journey"
"Cycle says much more than just cycling"
Accoridng to him Ahmedabad is yet to wake up in green aspects. The amount of traffic has increased in last 10 years so much as that cyclists get pushed around on the roads. Its not easy cycling even around the university area, which once used to have quiter, cycle friendly raods.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Cycle renting system in Majur Gam, East Ahmedabad

A cycle repair shop and also cycle renting place. This shop belongs to Puran Lal and is into cycle repair business since he was 10 years old. But he started renting out cycles only 10 years back.
One of the cycles for renting numbered 26

Puran Lal, 54. Has a fleet of 41 cycles for renting out.



It is a very interesting system of cycle renting in the Majur Gam area of East Ahmedabad. Most of the cycle repair shops in this area about 15 of them, rent out cycle sto the people who are mostly the building construction (brick laying, plastering,etc.) workers/labour. Since they do not work at one location throughout, so according to their need they borrow a cycle as and when needed. The most interesting thing about this system, that is how do they ensure, that the borrower would return the cycle back in time? They rent out cycles only to the people they are familiar or have an acquintance with. Thus, when i asked about borrowing a cycle from him, he refused to give me.
Ajay Kumar, 26 helps his father in running the business of cycle repairs and cycle renting.


They maintain a proper log book in gujrati and charge Rs. 10 per day, or just in rare cases a cycle is available for sometime then Rs.2 per hour.

Most of the cycles are booked by their permanent customers 365 days a year, and there's no chance of new people getting a cycle for a day, as the shopowner doesnt want to spoil his regular clientele.

In case the cycle is lost by the borrower, the shop owner feels that the borrowers are like him, poor people, so he would never force them to pay back, he would be happy with \ whatever the borrower would be able to payback through his savings over a period of time.

Its an amazing system that works only on the basis of TRUST !

Monday, March 22, 2010

OFFICIAL OPENING!

IT'S STARTING!!

The official inauguration ceremony is taking place on Wednesday the 24th at 10:30am, under hostel A parking area (middle gate) NID Paldi campus!

We have invited the director of NID to cut the ribbon and be the first participant to use the bike sharing system, as well as members of the press.

From now on all NID campus members will be able to use the bikes, and journey around Ahmedabad where ever they please!

Feel free to join us on the day, to help us celebrate this great event! Hope to see you all there!

Cheers, ReDiscover Bicycle Team!

OFFICIAL OPENING #3

OFFICIAL OPENING #2


OFFICIAL OPENING #1

Sunday, March 21, 2010

What were your experiences?

In order to learn from our NID trial system we need to ask people who use the system about their experiences and suggestions for improvement. We have created a survey which will be filled out by users when they have finished using the bikes and are returning the keys. The surveys will be collected in a big yellow box at the middle gate along with any fees and donations. Please feel free to comment about the survey or suggest ways we can make it better.

Fire Fox cycles in Ahmedabad

Fire Fox super bikes are becoming a craze among the youth in India, especially in Ahmedabad. After me and Swati visited Fire Fox Showroom on S.G. Highway, we got to know some interesting facts about the craze for these cycles. The same day, a customer (also a firefox owner) had specially come from Jamnagar for the Fire Fox accessories as they are available only at the exclusive showrooms which are a few selected in whole of India. The sales woman at the showroom Tejal, told us that they are selling at least one Fire Fox everyday so roughly 25-30 each month and the showroom is about 3 years old. But its still a good sale for a premium cycle brand which costs anything between Rs. 7-8,000 upto Rs. 1.5 lakh.









Most of their customers are here to buy cycles for school going kids in higher classes aged 15-16. They also had cycles for toddlers aged 2-4 years, but since they way expensive as compared to cycles by other brands, they hardly sell. Then their customers are also cycling enthusiasts and people who have higher incomes including builders, doctors, etc.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

black or white


brainstorming sheets, information mapping

Information map of mainly the Cycle merchants in Ahmedabad, the school kids mobility trends, cycling trends among the higher income group.


How system has subsystems and every are a whole complex system within themselves.


The initial map of stake holders of the system, and other dependents on the system




Mapping from Katharine on how can we motivate people in India to use bicycleas their priority choice mobility.


Finally the area is being demarcated for the docking of cycles for the sharing system. It is getting NOTICED, and people are keen to know more about the project. The suspense is building. I would like to appreciate Michelle and Katharine for their amazing dedication for the cleaning and painting of this area. Kudos!!
Michelle working hard to get the parking station for cycles attractive. I must appreciate her dedication to paint even in the burning afternoon of Ahmedabad.

Cycles after getting a fresh coat of paint.






Devi kaka painting the cycles for the campaign.









"Make cycling a fashion statement" says Shri Pradyumna Vyas, Director NID

Shri Pradyumna Vyas, Executive Director, NID is enthusiastic about the NID bike sharing campaign "ReDiscover bicycle" and wants that every effort should be made in making cycling a cool, macho, and a fashionable thing to do. Let people who use bicycles feel proud and those who do not, let them feel down. He quoted the example of cigarette smokers. Like smoking has been banned in some countries and how they are shoved into a corner and make them feel dejected when they smoke in public. In a similar way, if we can promote cycling as such a activity which is cool to do and riding motorbike as uncool, he feels a difference can be made in people's mind set.
He has asked TI cycles of India, Chennai to sponsor some bicycles for this campaign. If it materialises, nothing like it ! We'll have all the more cycles to share. He feels that this campaign is the starting of a new movement - a movement to promote cycling in such a way that the mobility trends of people are changed. He wants this system to be used as an institutional model for other educational institutes. few educational institutes such as IITs (Indian Institute of technology) already have a cycle culture in their campuses.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Post dinner cycling

Cycling is so much fun these days especially post dinner. Cycling culture is quickly catching up with NID community, and now i guess the number of cycles in the fleet seem to be less. Everyone seems to be wanting to go for cycling as a leisure time after dinner to have some gujrati sweetdish around Mahalaxmi char rasta..... barf gola, Havmor icecream, soda in fruit beer, orange, whisky, blueberry flavours !!
And by this time around, its cooler and lesser traffic on roads, so one can cycle as a leisurely activity. But with increasing demand of cycles on rent, we need to look out for more bicycles and add them to our exisitng fleet of 11 cycles.

Calling all lonely bicycles!



Calling all lonely bicycles!
We're still keen for more bikes, if you'd like to donate your bike the share bike system currently running at NID, or you're an NID resident who'd like to donate your bike for a while, please let us know. The more the merrier!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

NID Bicycle sharing : Initial start


Bicycle arranged for usage under A -hostel block

And as promised, the bicycle sharing in NID campus for NID community has been started (on trial basis).The no. of bicycles for the same are increasing accordingly.Thanks to the NID, the students and volunteers (outside NID) for a helping hand for this initiative.Now to start with we have 13 bicycles.Also thanks to media for spreading our idea to the people of Ahmedabad.
Whats next??The cycle pumps are being arranged,the numbers are being alloted to the bicycles and to make this system full proof some norms are being decided.
We have also inititated the talks with NID Administration regarding the same.Till then wait for updates.

Happy Bicycling

'Parking Lot' T-shirts





Aloha!
Tadaaaaaaaa!
'parking lot' bicycle t-shirt designs. we are printing a series of shirts next week.
Thoughts on these designs?

Friday, March 12, 2010

Meeting with Christopher Kost, Technical Director, ITDP

It was an honor for all of us to have Chris among us to discuss about our cycling project at NID. He is a regular cyclist, and finds Ahmedabad a comparatively safer city for cycling due to slower vehicle speeds. His cycling experience in Ahmedabad was very insightful. As we were discussing the cycling experience in Ahmedabad, there were certain more issues which came forward, such as, people here generally lack road etiquette and the city is constantly and actively disrespecting to the cyclists. Also some proposals and solutions as to how to educate people came forward like observing one day every week or every month as the “cycling day” in institutions, offices, etc.
He is really interested and excited about making this project a success in Ahmedabad, and has agreed to offer all the possible ways he can help us. We look forward to some more meetings with him for our project because of his very useful insights on cycling in Ahmedabad.

But I wonder why we want to make cycling a special thing to do, why can’t it be something as normal for everyone- the rich and the poor as anything a part of their lifestyles?
It is good to promote cycling, but not by making it something special which can only be observed on special days because we only cycles to preserve it and not make it a part of our daily lives as a mode of daily transport?
That’s why we want to make cycling a part of people’s lifestyles. Unless we start cycling just for the sake of cycle, it cannot be brought back to the status of normal way of mobility.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Critical Mass Cycling

While googling today i came across a new term "Critical Mass Cycling" in an article published in Times of India, mumbai city edition.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Cyclists-in-city-ask-for-more-pedal/articleshow/4328736.cms
"Several bikers from Dadar, who are part of the Mumbai Critical Mass cycling event, cycled down for the meeting and expressed concern at the problems bikers face on the road daily. Critical Mass is held every Friday in over 300 cities around the world to promote an alternative means of transport, they explained. "
Following is the extract of this term on Wikipedia.


Critical Mass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

San Francisco Critical Mass, April 29, 2005.

Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. While the ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets on bikes.

Background

San Francisco Broadway Tunnel 29 September 2006Critical Mass rides have been perceived as protest activities. A 2006 New Yorker magazine article described Critical Mass' activity in New York City as "monthly political-protest rides", and characterized Critical Mass as a part of a social movement; and the UK e-zine Urban75, which advertises as well as publishes photographs of the Critical Mass event in London, describes this as "the monthly protest by cyclists reclaiming the streets of London." However, Critical Mass participants have insisted that these events should be viewed as "celebrations" and spontaneous gatherings, and not as protests or organized demonstrations. This stance allows Critical Mass to argue a legal position that its events can occur without advance notification of local police.

Critical Mass rides vary greatly in many respects, including frequency and number of participants. For example, many small cities have monthly Critical Mass rides with fewer than twenty riders which offer safety in numbers to cyclists in those locales, while on the opposite extreme, in what have been the largest events using the name Critical Mass, cyclists in Budapest, Hungary hold only two rides each year on April 22 (Earth Day) and September 22 (International Car Free Day). The 'Budapest style' attracts tens of thousands of riders. The April 20, 2008 Budapest ride participation was estimated at 80,000 riders.

History

Bike lift at Heroes' Square, Budapest, April 22, 2006Critical Mass-like bike tours with hundreds of participants took place in Stockholm, Sweden in the early 1970s. But the first ride within the present wave took place on Friday, September 25, 1992 at 6 p.m. in San Francisco. At that time, the event was known as Commute Clot and was composed of a couple of dozen cyclists who had received flyers on Market Street.

Shortly after this, some participants in that ride went to a local bicycle shop for a screening of Ted White's documentary Return of the Scorcher, about bike culture overseas. In that film, American human powered vehicle and pedicabs designer George Bliss noted that, in China, both motorists and bicyclists had an understood method of negotiating intersections without signals. Traffic would "bunch up" at these intersections until the backlog reached a "critical mass", at which point that mass would move through the intersection. That term from the movie was applied to the ride, and the name caught on, replacing "Commute Clot" by the time of the second event.

By the time of the fourth ride, the number of cyclists had increased to around 100 and participation continued to grow dramatically, reaching about 1,000 riders, on average.

The name was soon adopted as a generic label by participants in similar but independent mass rides that were either initiated in various locations around the world at around the same time, or had already existed before 1992 under other names. It is estimated that there are Critical Mass-type rides in more than 325 cities to date. The term "masser" is sometimes applied to a frequent participant.

Structure
Critical Mass differs from many other social movements in its rhizomal (rather than hierarchical) structure. Critical Mass is sometimes called an "organized coincidence", with no leadership or membership. The routes of some rides are decided spontaneously by whomever is currently at the front of the ride, others are decided prior to the ride by a popular vote of suggested routes often drawn up on photocopied flyers. The term xerocracy was coined to describe a process by which the route for a Critical Mass can be decided: anyone who has an opinion makes their own map and distributes it to the cyclists participating in the Mass. Still other rides decide the route by consensus. The "disorganized" nature of the event allows it to largely escape clampdown by authorities who may view the rides as forms of parades or organized protest. Additionally, the movement is free from the structural costs associated with a centralized, hierarchical organization. In order for the event to function, the only requirement is a sufficient turn-out to create a "critical mass" of riders dense enough to occupy a piece of road to the exclusion of drivers of motorized vehicles and pedestrians. Authorities in New York, California and Oregon have expressed concern with the difficulty of coordinating with the riders, due to the lack of leadership

Corking

Detail from the November 20, 1992 flyer by Joel Pomerantz which introduced the concept of corking.Because Critical Mass takes place without an official route or sanction, participants in some cities have sometimes practiced a tactic known as "corking" in order to maintain the cohesion of the group. This tactic consists of a few riders blocking traffic from side roads so that the mass can freely proceed through red lights without interruption. Corking allows the mass to engage in a variety of activities, such as forming a cyclone, lifting their bikes in a tradition known as a "Bike Lift" (in Chicago this is referred to as a Chicago hold-up), or to perform a "die-in" where riders lie on the ground with their bikes to symbolise cyclist deaths and injuries caused by automobiles, very popular in Montreal. The 'Corks' sometimes take advantage of their time corking to distribute flyers.

Critics argue that the practice of corking roads in order to pass through red lights as a group is contrary to Critical Mass' claim that "we are traffic", since ordinary traffic (including bicycle traffic) does not usually have the right to go through intersections once the traffic signal has changed to red. Corking has sometimes led to hostility between motorists and riders, even erupting into violence and arrests of motorists and cyclists alike during Critical Mass rides.

Reaction and controversy
General impact
The Rand Corporation produced a white paper entitled "What Next for Networks and Netwars?" analyzing the tactics of the ride, as part of an evaluation of decentralized decision-making for potential military battlefield use. The ride has generated books, documentary films, murals, and other secondary artifacts.

Conflicts involving Critical Mass
Critical Mass rides have generated considerable controversy and public opposition. Some critics claim that Critical Mass is a deliberate attempt to obstruct traffic and disrupt normal city functions, asserting that individuals taking part refuse to obey traffic laws. Altercations with police and motorists have occurred. Although uncommon, protesters are sometimes present at Critical Mass events to oppose the group's methods.

Reaction of other cyclists
Some bicycling advocacy groups have expressed concern that the "subversive" nature of Critical Mass and altercations with motorists could weaken public support for bicyclists. Though it does not condone incidents of violence and rudeness, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition credits Critical Mass with spotlighting bicycle issues and aiding their efforts in advocating for cyclists.

Critical Manners
In San Francisco, an event known as "Critical Manners" was created as a response to Critical Mass. Critical Manners rides through the city on the second Friday of the month, with riders encouraged to obey all traffic laws such as stopping at red lights and signaling. Tucson, Arizona holds the Tuesday Night Community Bike Ride as their alternative to Critical Mass. The weekly ride encourages bicycle commuting and motor vehicle awareness in a peaceful and friendly way.

In 2007 there were conversations about starting Critical Manners in Portland, Oregon. According to the Critical Mass book, a similar project known as Courteous Mass is described as "an alternative to Critical Mass." Courteous Mass was discontinued in late 2002 due to "lack of interest".

An alternative ride named RideCivil formed in Seattle in late 2007. Rides are on the second Friday of every month, and focus on encouraging civility between motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

On August 14, 2009 there was a Critical Manners ride in Vancouver, British Columbia. The ride consisted of between 70-100 cyclists riding through the downtown core, making all attempts to follow the rules of the road (stopping at red lights / stop signs, using hand signals to turn, using the right-most lane or bike lane when applicable). The event generated some coverage in the local media and was generally deemed a success by the participants, although there were some criticisms. The ride, however, only survived one outing.

Other movements
The Critical Mass rides have inspired a number of other bicycle movements, that range from political movements to the "Critical Tits" ride during the yearly Burning Man festival. In Chicago, a movement has grown out of the Critical Mass community to promote winter cycling via the bikewinter campaign. The extensive news coverage of San Francisco's July 1997 ride spawned an international celebration of bicycling, called Bike Summer. Kidical Mass originated in Oregon, and encourages bicycle riding for children and families. Critical Sass is an all female version of the ride in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that takes place the second Friday of every month. Tweed run is a well dressed mass which takes place annually in a number of cities across the world. Examples of Critical Mass rides for political movements includes the Free Tibet Rides (May 2008): Free Tibet Critical Mass in Columbia, Missouri, "Tibetan Freedom Bike Rally" in San Francisco (Aug 2008), and in "Bike Ride for Tibet" in London (Aug 2008).

San Jose is the home to the massive San Jose Bike Party. Bike Party rides on the third Friday of the month with a different starting point and route each time. Rides are typically 20 – 25 miles in length and usually have 2,000 - 2,500 riders, with a peak of 4,300 in October 2009. The ride aims to build a community of cyclists and prove that bikes can co-exist with cars. It is very much to the opposite of Critical Mass in that it rides after rush hour and obeys all traffic laws, including stopping at red lights

We've got a logo!


Finally we got a logo for our campaign. Designed by our friend and 1st year student of Graphic Design, Swati Rao, here at NID. We wanted a simple and easy to print logo which could give the idea of this campaign through the use of colours and form. We didnt wanted to have a bicycle profile as the logo which is mostly used in such campaigns, so the quadrilateral in the logo sort of depicts the bicycle frame, which is an indirect depiction of bicycle campaign. We are looking forward to some more graphical solutions for our promotional campaign.



Siddhartha Priya

After seeing Saturday's newspaper, Mr Siddhartha Priya contacted the ReDesign Bicycle team to offer his help and advice. We met with him today and discussed his experiences cycling in Ahmedabad, his advice about starting the initiative and future business plans. Siddhartha is an IIM graduate with a special interest in bicycling - he is soon to embark on a round-the-world cycle! Don't worry we don't expect everyone to cycle that far! 

Saturday, March 6, 2010

wow wow wow...

You see,somethin comes surprise to you and the first thing you say is "WOW".Yes this is what is happening to us right now at the moment.The time our project or you can say a "Dream" is published in the news paper (ahmedabad mirror dated 06/03/10) we are recieving a tremendous response from all over the ahmedabad.In fact people from all walks of life have called us in curosity to know what this project is all about?What we are planning to do?How can we help?and continued...

The response is amazing and thats where the "WOW" factor is coming.We didn't had the idea that there are people outside just waiting for such an opportunity.Really now i am enjoying it.
Now apart from looking it as a course or academic project , there is now a zeal inside, just to make it happen in any way and at any cost.Now i am willing to take the risks which i always enjoy taking.Its an opportunity that i see waiting for someone to just ignite and now i want to be that one.
And for sure i will b the one.Thanks a lot people for inspiring us and approaching us with ur sincere help.

ReDiscover Bicycle
Animesh Shrivastava :)
Transportation and Automobile Design
National Institute of Design

Possession of unclaimed cycles

Yippie!! we got permission and possession to use the unclaimed bicycles lying from several years in NID staff parking. Though the cycles are in bad shape and some of them in really bad shape but we plan to get them fixed and use for our campaign.

After the news article in Ahmedabad Mirror, today was a busy day answering phone calls and receiving many good luck, good going messages from strangers too! There is a positive response to this initiative and many people called up to volunteer for this campaign and also someone also wants to donate his unused cycle for this campaign.
Looking forward to some sponsors who can bear the cycle repair expenses.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Focus Group Discussion

Yesterday, Team ReDiscover Bicycle conducted a Focus Group Discussion where in the main panelists of the discussion board were Dr. Ranjit Konkar, Co-ordinator Product Design, at NID, Deepak Panchal and Devendra Bhai, Head, Metal workshop and two more metal workshop helpers; Natha kaka Head, wood workshop; one of the security gaurds at NID; French faculty; and Chris, Michelle and Katharine, students on exchange programme from RMIT, Melbourne Australia. Apart from them, we were glad to have few more student participants from various other disciplines at NID.
The main agenda was to get insights from the panelists on their cycling/non cycling experiences. We had a small presentation before the actual discussion to introduce the audience to various "Bike sharing" systems around the world. Few examples qouted were the India's First Bike-sharing Service - FreMo ( http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/2010/03/indias-first-bike-sharing-service-fremo.html ) in Thane, a Mumbai suburb; the bike sharing system in Chinese city of Hangzhou which is considered China's most beautiful city ( http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/biggest-bike-share-in-china.php ). This system would beat the existing system in Paris. And the final example was of the Bogota city in Columbia. For more information on this you may download a PDF file on this link http://www.itdp.org/documents/st_magazine/ITDP-ST_Magazine-19.pdf

It was interesting to have the participants views on various questions we left open for them to answer. Some of the questions asked were :

  • When I see someone riding a bicycle I feel… ???
  • Bicycle: I ride it because….
  • Bicycle: I don’t ride it because…
  • I would go for a bicycle that…
  • Short cuts : I like it…
  • I like when people appreciate me….
  • Bicycle: I feel equally a part of transportation system…..

While we were discussing all these points, interesting stories about cycling experiences came through. The main point which is prohibiting people from riding a bicycle seemed to be the socio-economic status of the people. Everyone agreed on the fact that people who ride bicycle are the ones who cannot afford to buy a motorbike or car. This is a big concern to be dealt with to motivate even the people who can afford expensive modes of transport. It was surprising for me to know that few people among our discussion ride 20 kms of bicycle everyday to get to their work place from home. Most people switch to motorised transport as soon as they can afford it as it saves time, has less exertion, and can carry more people without any extra effort.

And there were few suggestions for the kind of bicycles they would like to ride or when buying a cycle for the first time.

Ahmedabad Mirror: 06th March'10




BACK TO BICYCS
Two NIDians plan to turn the humble bicycle into public ka naya transport for Ahmedabad. To begin with, they will launch their free cycle sharing experiment on the campus next week to study response to their idea
SHRADDHA SINGH The neglected, rusted bicycle can become a sustainable and eco-friendly mode of transport for Ahmedabad, a city cluttered with two, three and four wheelers, if plans of two enterprising NIDians go on track. In an attempt to bring back the culture of riding a bicycle in an urban set-up like Ahmedabad, Animesh Shrivastava of Transportation and Automobile Design and Gunveen Kaur of Product Design have initiated the ‘ReDiscover Bicycle’ project. This project is part of their final year Systems Design course. If the initial stage goes smoothly — the 10-day experiment which begins next week has initially been restricted to the campus — the idea can be implemented on a bigger scale, they feel. For the start, the duo have put together a fleet of 15 bicycles which can be used for free by members of the NID community (students and faculty). Cycles lying unclaimed in the design school’s parking lot were repaired. The rest came as donations by volunteers. Shrivastava says, “This is just the beginning of an ambitious project. ReDiscover Bicycle is an initiative to promote cycling culture in Ahmedabad city as a sustainable mode of transportation. We want to introduce and establish this concept as part of an urban life. For the trial run, we have set up an experimental model of ‘bicycle sharing’ system within the NID community.” Tags are being attached to cycles on the campus, requesting owners to lend them for sharing. The ReDiscover team will take care of the fleet’s maintenance. The two students began with an online survey within the NID community to understand the role of a bicycle in lives of the individuals. Said Kaur, “Introducing this concept among the urban and educated crowd of Amdavad will not be an easy task as cycling has ceased being a part of Indian society since the advent of motorised transportation.” Kaur says the notion that cycles are only for children and the poor needs to be changed for, cycling as part of one’s daily activity will be environment friendly, save fuel and remove class division. “There are no disadvantages of riding a bicycle. Besides, it keeps us fit.” The duo next plans to approach the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) which developed the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) concept. “They were the first to introduce introduce dedicated infrastructure to promote cycling in the city by constructing cycle tracks along the BRTS corridor. Sadly, these tracks are hardly used,” says Shrivastava, adding, “We want people from all classes to use this mode of transport.” This team of two hopes to convince citizens to ride bicycles at least for shorter distances.