With the country unlocking in full swing, the use of public transport is on the rise again. Public transport has been a blessing to a lot of the Indian population, but it’s not necessarily treated that way. The state of public transport vehicles, may it be buses, autos or micro-mobility vehicles, like Yulu, are treated with disregard. Let’s dive a little deeper into the mistreating of these vehicles and what can be done:
How Public Transport Is Treated
Public transport is subjected to heavy depreciation due to the frequency at which it is used. To add to that, the usual social etiquette of maintaining the vehicles aren’t often followed by the consumers. Here are a couple of harsh issues the system is subjected to –
1. Cleanliness
Passengers leave the vehicles unclean and dirty. Some instances include public spitting and littering of garbage, deeming the vehicle unusable until thoroughly cleaned. Hygiene is an imperative issue when it comes to the treatment of these vehicles.
2. Vandalism
Vandalism prevails in all sorts of public vehicles. From posters being stuck on auto rickshaws to panel-wide graffiti on buses – public transport vehicles bear the brunt of it all.
3. Vehicle Abuse
The frequent use of public transport has resulted in more people mistreating the system. From the shoving of doors to putting shoes up on seats and handlebars. This shows utter lack of respect to the system as well as fellow passengers.
Why It Is Important To Respect Public Transport
Respecting public transport is becoming increasingly evident to the consumers as well as the service providers. The system that is built to ensure an accessible and reasonable way of commuting deserves our respect. Collective appreciation can deliver benefits we all can reap.
1. Ensuring Longevity
Being in the public domain, it is given that these vehicles are meant to last long. As a consumer, it becomes important that you do your best to ensure that these vehicles don’t go stale sooner than usual.
2. Being Respectful
Even though these vehicles aren’t necessarily yours, you still hold the responsibility of respecting the people and companies who openly provide you with this service.
3. Safe & Easy For The Next User
As a consumer, especially in a time like this, safety of commute is a major concern. It is only fair to leave the vehicle in a condition decent enough to be used by the next user, just as you would like it too.
Issues faced in maintaining a Yulu
Yulu is an important part of the public transport system. Over the last couple of years, Yulu has become one of the major services that facilitates first and last mile connectivity. However, being an integral, widely-used mode of commute comes with a bunch of issues in terms of being treated fairly by the users.
Some issues that are often faced are:
1. Pillion riding – Yulu form factor is designed for solo riding/ single person commuting and if 2 or more ppl are riding together the form faction and bike alignment is damaged to a great extent.
2. Vandalism – Damaging the bikes by actions like leaving the bike on, spray-painting and drawing on the bikes results in damage that is often very expensive to take care of.
3. Rash Riding – Doing stunts on the bike, standing up and riding, riding in the middle of the road and causing inconvenience to other commuters deems the bike unusable in its complete safety.
4. Drinking & driving – Often people use the bikes after indulging in alcohol intake which results in rash driving and rigorous use of the bikes. This may lead to accidents and damages to both the rider and the bike.
5. Adhering To The Age limit – For persons of age 16 and below, riding a Yulu is not advisable. It is not advisable for the lower age groups given that only adult commuters that are aware of commuting rules & regulations.
What Yulu Is Doing About This
We believe that responsible usage of public transport is a two-way street. While it’s important for the users to be respectful, it’s equally important for the service providers to be careful. We go the extra mile to ensure the best and safest rides for every subsequent consumer. Some of these steps include:
Yulu Zones
Yulu zones are specially marked areas with exclusive availability of Yulu bikes. These specific pickup and drop off areas help regulate the usage of the bikes. These zones have been put in place to aid in effective & efficient public usage. These zones act as a common point for both users & the Yulu operations team to maintain the quality of the bikes. Beside the bike being easily accessible to consumers. The Yulu operations team uses the zone as a hub to charge, repair & maintain the quality of Yulu bikes so that they can provide the best commute to its commuters.
Yulu has set this as a standard policy to build and operate a seamless ridesharing network for its users which otherwise would be scattered and cause inconvenience to its users & other commuters. Hence requests Yulu commuters/ users to adhere to the same
Precautionary Measures
Leaving rental vehicles on the road hampers the ease of commute for the other people on the road and results in increased depreciation of the bikes. To tackle this problem, it is mandatory to leave the Yulu bike in use in a specifically allotted zone.
We want all our users to have only the best and most comfortable ride experience at all times. As a precautionary measure to ensure our vehicles are handled with care and kept in pristine condition for our riders, we take a security deposit when you sign up. At any point in time you wish to discontinue this service, the deposit will be refunded at a click of a button.
We try our best to ensure that your experience with us is seamless, and we hope you do your bit too.
What You Can Do
The importance of treating public transport vehicles respectfully has already been established, and the means of it shouldn’t be very difficult. Basic gestures like – keeping the vehicles clean, ensuring respectful usage and practising good public transport etiquette – go a long way.
There are a lot of ways that Yulu users can take to maintain bikes. Some of these are:
- Ending a ride at Yulu zone and not anywhere else
- Checking the battery percentage and unlocking the bike based on the distance they need to commute
- Following traffic and basic commuting guidelines
- Not talking on phone/ listing to music while riding
- Reporting damaged bikes,
- Don’t forget to thoroughly enjoy your Yulu rides
The public transportation system helps more than half of our nation commute, and it’s important that we do our part in respecting and maintaining it. As a brand, we do our best to ensure a continued source of commute that is safer, more accessible and constantly hygienic for all.