Ever since the first bicycle mayor program kicked off in India in 2016, cycling as a sport & leisure activity has picked up scale. With the announcement of two new mayors joining the brigade of existing four, India is perfectly poised in embedding the cycling culture in its state.
Pooja Vijay the Founder of “Pink Pedals” and Firoza Suresh, the Founder of “Smart Commute Foundation” are the latest appointments made by BYCS from Amsterdam who are here to fastrack the cycling agenda. In the first of the six part series covering bicycle mayors of India, Pooja takes us through her journey and her plans for Jaipur city.
Pink Pedals is a unique woman-led entrepreneurial start-up cum initiative, one of its kind in the world that has focused on bicycle rentals. Our motivation was simple that this world needs more cycles than ever! As an organization, we are incredibly privileged to be a part of this silent revolution.
Pink Pedals founded by Pooja Vijay, recently chosen as “Bicycle Mayor of Jaipur” by Amsterdam based organisation BYCS working on a mission of 50by30 means 50 per cent of city rides on cycle by 2030.
Pooja believes that cycling is about the affirmation of freedom of mind and spirit. In addition to people movement, we aim for a cleaner city and a healthy sustainable environment. People movement on cycles will avoid traffic jams, congestion and bring down the pollution levels. A healthy populace is a spin-off benefit.
Pooja named her cycle rental start-up as a tribute to glorious and historical Pink city and call it as “PINK PEDALS”.
So far, Pink Pedals has been proudly associated with several landmark events across Jaipur. As Pooja says we mark them with special schemes for rentals as well as organizing rides to create awareness about the acceptance of cycle as a healthy lifestyle choice. We have an extensive focus on all age groups (kids and adults). We are proud to have hosted Jaipur’s first cycling event for kids (ranging from 2.5 to 16-year-olds) “JUNIORS CYCLOTHON” where every participant was a winner.
The driving force was, of course, catch them young! In year 2018, Pink Pedals organised Juniors Cyclothon twice, summer version in June and winter one in December.
Pooja feels proud to share that we have had a tremendous response to our initiative. We have grown multi-fold in these last one and half year and expanded by multiple times, currently, we have a fresh stock of 100+ cycles! So far in our short journey, we have catered to a total of 25,000 plus people who have together logged more than 125,000 km! The objective of Pink Pedals will always remain central to the promotion of sustainable mobility so that our cities can survive and thrive!
“Heritage on Pedals” is one of our flagship program; it’s a unique initiative to promote sustainable eco-tourism in the Pink City. We aim and aspire to nurture and sustain numerous self-help organizations and people engaged in the tourism industry directly or indirectly. We got specially crafted and hand-painted vintage cycles to come on the road to explore the glorious Pink-City. As a result, we gained the coveted recognition from the Tourism Department, Government of Rajasthan, and our start-up is amongst the top organizations recognized by the Rajasthan government.
After becoming Bicycle Mayor of Jaipur, Pooja is all set to launch her projects on which she is working hard from last 6 months. She is excited about the possibility to partner with Mahindra World City (MWC) to facilitate cycling amongst inhabitants similar to a public bike sharing (PBS). It would place MWC, Jaipur on the world map, and amongst the select few in the Indian sub-continent, that encourages sustainable eco-inhabitation. On the other hand Pooja has signed a MoU with JECRC University, one of the biggest universities in Jaipur, to make the campus vehicle free. Pooja plans to provide cycles to students and staff in and outside the campus.
In last Pooja speaks about her mission, “Being a Bicycle Mayor, I will focus on my Mission, that is, my city should have more and more cycle tracks, bring changes in people mind-sets towards cycling and more use of cycles to reduce traffic and pollution level by introducing bicycle sharing projects in city, big corporate houses, school and universities and in campuses with vast area. I will certainly motivate students to commute on cycles for their schools and colleges. Professionals to ride to their work and use of cycles in their regular lifestyle. Being a Historical city, I want tourist to pedal and see the beauty of Pink City.
For tourist and general inquires, you can visit www.thepinkpedals.com
“Keep Cycling, Keep Motivating”
Author: Pooja Vijay is the Founder of “Pink Pedals” and Bicycle Mayor of Jaipur.
Inspirational !…good initiative..keep it up..
thank you
Very proud of you Pooja !
Keep up the good work …. 👏👏
Best wishes for 50by30 !
🚲🚲….. Keep Cycling…..