In a bid to provide last mile connectivity to the passengers, the Delhi Metro rail Corporation in association with a private venture procured a fleet of 100 e-rickshaws enabled with Global Positioning System (GPS). The smart rickshaws were thrown open to the public by Delhi lieutenant Governor (lG) Anil Baijal on Friday.
The fleets will cover the entire Dwarka sub-city including the eight Metro Stations such as Dwarka Sector-10, 14, 13, 12, 11, Sector-10, 9 and Sector-8 from 6 AM to 11 PM. These GPS enabled Smart-Es are specially designed with special features like covered cabin and full front windscreen to provide the last mile connectivity within an area of 3-4 KM around Metro stations.
“DMRC has not only contributed excellence in transportation, but it also stands out for its environment friendly initiatives. This eco-friendly initiative of introducing E-rickshaws at the Metro stations will enable the commuters to prefer non-polluting public transport modes over personal vehicles,” said Baijal while launching the Fleets.
Delhi Metro claimed this will be the first time that the E-rickshaw facility has been rolled out for Metro stations in the National Capital covering almost the entire Dwarka sub-city.
Currently, there are 100 e-rickshaws but the DMRC will increase the fleets to 200 in the coming weeks to cater a large number of people. It has also created a charging station for all these electric vehicles to ensure seamless service throughout the whole day.
“DMRC will look to replicate services on similar format in other areas of Delhi/NCR. Delhi Metro is also working with SmartE to enable usage of Metro Smart Cards for fare payment in these electric vehicles. We also have the facility of smart rickshaws in HUDA City Centre, M G Road amd Sikanderpur, Faridabad and, Neelam Chowk Ajronda and Bata Chowk and is widely used by nearly 50,000 passengers daily,” added Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, (Corporate Communication), DMRC.
The fare price starts from Rs 10 for the first two kilometres and Rs 5 will be charged for every subsequent kms. Commuters can also get information about the smart rickshaw facility online. The passengers can also book the vehicles online through Smart-E App and can pay online for each ride.