Smart Commute Foundation is encouraging more Mumbaikars to pedal their way to work
Firoza Suresh
Feroza Suresh started cycling to work because she enjoyed doing it. There was no plan to launch a campaign for a greener city or even to make it a part of her routine. But eventually, she started seeing the benefits that more people on cycles can do to this city clogged with traffic and pollution. Moreover, cycling seemed a much smarter option than to haggle with autos and taxis in rush hour.
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As she started cycling to office, she got to know of others who do so and then eventually the Smart Commute Foundation, an initiative that aims to encourage more people to cycle to work, was started in 2014.
This June, the foundation, started the initiative, Cycle2Work Fridays, that encourages cyclists and employees of companies associated with the Foundation to cycle to work on the last Friday of every month. To add muscle to the intitiative they also launched an app recently, The Smart Commute App, using which the participants are now sharing routes and other information.
Chetan Temkar, who designed the app, says that the response to it is very heartening as they are still running a beta version. “Over 500 people have downloaded it already,” he says. Temkar explains that he does not want this cycling app to be a calorie count machine but rather be used as a fun social activity.
Sheena Seth, a partner of the foundation, says they have also approached the Brihanmumbai Municial Corporation to allow cycle parking facilities in different parts of the city.
On Cycle2Work Fridays, she says, people who are part of the app upload their journey on it. “There have been different kinds of routes uploaded. Some cycle from Thane to Lower Parel and some from Bandra to Worli. Western Express Highway is also a popular route,” she says. The aim, she says, is to turn Mumbai into a cycle-friendly city like Amsterdam.
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