New ride-sharing service in city

After Uber, Pathao, Shohoz, Obhai and others, another ride-sharing service has initiated pilot operations in Dhaka. The name of the service is Jobike. It is the first-ever bicycle-sharing service in Dhaka. Last year, the service was introduced in Cox's Bazar, two public universities and in Chattogram.

The two-wheeler on demand service will be available in Mirpur Defence Officers Housing Society on a pilot basis beginning with 50 bicycles. We can only hope that the pilot project will be successful so that the service will be extended to other residential areas of Dhaka as the Jobike management has shared with UNB.

Similar services dependent on bicycles are available in other countries of Asia like China, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and others. More and more countries seem to be preferring bicycles over other transports as it is environment-friendly and can also help by keeping the bicyclist fit.

Also, Jobike's charges seem reasonable. For every minute, a rider will be charged Tk 1 in Dhaka. But, on the two campuses of Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University, the service is being offered for Tk 3 for every five minutes.

If the service of Jobike becomes popular and reliable, it can be a great addition to the existing number of ride-sharing services in the country.

Akibul Javed,

Indira Road, Dhaka