Bangladesh’s first bicycle sharing app, JoBike, will start its operation on October 7 following a colourful inaugural ceremony.
The test run, however, will begin from tomorrow. Confirming the matter to Dhaka Tribune, the secretary to student transportation of Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) Shams E Noman said: "The fare for riding those bicycles will be kept at a reduced rate compared to other university campuses and residential areas where JoBike will be operational."
"It will cost Tk2.5 for the first 5 minutes and after the first 5 minutes Tk0.4 will be charged for every minute till the end of the ride," he added.
Shams said: “A five-member committee was formed earlier and it requested the founder and CEO of the company to charge a reduced rate from the students of DU and he adhered to our request; but it was set to keep Tk3 per minute in other operational areas."
"Initially 100 bicycles will be launched from the test run day and later the number will be increased according to the demands of the students," Ducsu student transportation secretary said.
The whole project will run under the name of DU Chakkar.
JoBike -- bicycle sharing app -- started its journey from the tourist hub city of Cox’s Bazar in January 2018.
Initially, the startup plans to run its service at Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Chittagong University, Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh and Islamic University, Bangladesh, in Kushtia.
The service is now also available at Jahangirnagar University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust) and the Mirpur DOHS area of Dhaka.
Users are charged Tk 3 for every five minutes, and bicycles must be returned to the point where they were taken from.
The JoBike mobile application enables users to find bicycles for rent. After downloading the app, users will have to sign up and can then scan a quick response (QR) code on the bicycle to unlock it for use.
Earlier, a top official of the company said they are not concerned about the bicycles being stolen as they are using the Internet of Things (IoT) in their specially-designed bikes to prevent theft.
JoBike Founder Mehedi Reza is a former product operations manager at Alibaba Group, the largest online trading company in the world.
The Bangladesh Chhatra League, in its manifesto prior to the Ducsu elections, said that it would initiate the JoBike operations in the campus for easy movement of the university students.
