Hangzhou is doing first 1 hour free..that might be much..Velib does first 30 min free..that sounds good actually..

If it would be for commuters, wouldn't you pick it at a stop in morning and drop back? But then, the cycles would idle for 7-8 hours. The rental scheme would require rental shops near office areas where people will drop them off. So it would be pick at stop -> drop at office area -> pick at office area -> drop at bus/metro stop? Hourly rates make more sense then.

New to the subject, still trying to understand how cycle rental/sharing programs would work and be practical for a place like Bangalore.

Yes, bike stations are needed at both ends..residential/community places and at work/shopping places..ideally you would bike to the nearest mass trnsport system like the metro and get to where ever you need to and inturn rent one bike there..

This puts up a question as to how to maintain ideal bike numbers at each of the stations..this is done by a bike shuttle..tata ace types..which will carry excess bikes from stations and relocates them..

Stealing of cycles is very common in namma Bengaluru. It is a challenge for bicycle renting company.

Hourly Rs 10-30 would be expensive. Somewhere near Rs 5 to Rs 10 more affordable.

Thinking again, the monthly option is clearly a no, except if groups of people can rent on monthly basis and share between them. But why would any group do it, just rent on daily basis.

I voted for "like to carry my bike" along, because then I can cycle to the bus stand on both sides of my commute. Renting for say 100 days an year would be about 5000-15000 rupees of cost. Wouldn't I just buy a bike instead, and may be leave it parked at a safe stand near the bus stand near my office? That saves the headache (and also cost, BMTC would charge a cycle ticket, right?) of carrying it daily in the bus.

Or perhaps the best option would be - the bike rental company should have the option of payback scheme if I contribute a cycle to the sharing scheme. So I buy a bike, give it to them to add to their pool. And then, every day I rent, I get 10 Rs back :) That could work, provided only a small % of bike share users (say 30%) opt for this scheme.

S Sathya from Praja explains: “Anyone who catches the Metro at Baiyappanahalli for example, can get down at M G Road and then walk to the cycle stand and rent a bicycle. They can ride on it around M G Road and then return it to the nearest cycle stand. The cyclist does not need to come back to the point from where he or she rented the cycle.”

more here

Lots of promising news on rentals and bike lanes in DH today..got to see how early this gets working!