A fleet of 25 electric rickshaws was launched for providing last-mile connectivity to commuters to and from the Noida Electronic City metro station here, project officials said.
The initiative has been launched by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in collaboration with ETO Motors, an electric mobility solutions and services company, and will eventually cover more metro stations on the DMRC network in the future, they said.
DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh flagged off a fleet of 25 e-rickshaws, called ‘ETO’ from Noida Electronic City Metro station of Blue Line and said, “Along with providing metro rail connectivity to the people of Delhi and NCR, we aim to address the last mile connectivity challenges faced by commuters by providing clean, safe and shared services.”
On the occasion, he also inaugurated operations of a smart electric vehicle charging station and charged the last-mile connectivity hub’s first vehicle, according to a statement issued by ETO Motors.
These e-rickshaws will be plying from 6 am to 11 pm daily providing last-mile connectivity to nearby localities of Noida Electronic City Metro station, the officials said.
“Initially, 25 ETO rickshaws are being introduced into service from the station, which will be increased to 100 by the end of next month, covering more stations in Noida section of Blue Line, which include Sector-62, Noida Sector-59, Noida Sector-61, Noida Sector-34 etc,” they said.
These GPS-enabled e-rickshaws are specially designed to have a covered cabin and full front windscreen to provide last-mile connectivity within an area of 4-5 km around metro stations, the officials said.
The fares have been kept very nominal at a base price of Rs 10 for the first 2 km and Rs 5 for subsequent km and the commuters can also book vehicles through the ETO app and pay digitally for their rides, added.
“We have not only created a comprehensive roadmap to establish a robust EV ecosystem by providing easy-to-operate vehicles but have also addressed the charging infrastructure challenges towards truly sustainable mobility,” ETO Motors MD and CEO N K Rawal said.
The DMRC has partnered with a consortium of M/s ETO Pvt. Ltd. (Operator) and M/s GEM Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. (Manufacturer) under their brand name ETO to run these e-rickshaws from the above stations. The commuters can avail more information regarding this facility on the helpline number managed by ETO Motors at 18001030975 or visit etomotors.com.
