Transportation

Auroville residents use mostly personal vehicles for transportation. These include motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles and an increasing number of cars.

Electric vehicles in Auroville

There was once some strong energy behind developing and promoting electric vehicles. Quiet Transport (QuTee) and EV Future teams looked into electric bicycles, motorcycles and solar charging stations. EV Future created an Electric Rikshaw. Auroville Energy Products develops solar charging systems.

A new energy towards sustainable transportation started in October 2016, with the creation of Electric Vehicle Maintenance (EVS), promoting excellent maintenance of electric vehicles. They are located near the Puncture Service.

In March 2017, Kinisi (from the Greek kinesis, meaning motion) was created under the Center for Scientific Research to make sustainable and ecological transportation accessible to guests, volunteers, newcomers and residents. This group is Kinisi, located at CSR, Auroshilpam. They rent and sell electric bicycles at a very reasonable degressive rate depending on the length of the rental period, and they have special prices for long-term volunteers. As of July 2018, Kinisi has put over 80 electric bicycles on the roads and cycle trails of Auroville, and they plan to increase the fleet slowly but regularly.

In June 2018, Kinisi initiated another program for Aurovilians called KIM (Kinisi In-kind Mobility). In harmony with the spirit and values of Auroville, this program aims to give Aurovilians access (without ownership, but still with personal use) to electric bicycles. When Aurovilians join this program, they receive a fully equipped e-cycle in exchange for a small monthly contribution, which covers the costs of maintenance, battery and cycle replacements. They receive the advantages of ownership (personal use) without the hassles (Kinisi takes care of the maintenance). If they leave Auroville for a long period, or if they don't use the cycle regularly, it goes back into the KIM pool for use by another Aurovilian. Profits from Kinisi rentals and sales will be dedicated to growing the KIM fleet of e-cycles.

Collective Transport

Unity Transport Service branched off from New Creation Transport (taxis) in 2007 to provide Auroville TaxiShare service for taxi pooling.

Auroville Community Transport (ACT) began in 2009 to provide an umbrella of services to promote mass transit in the community of Auroville. The ACT bus service works together with the older SAIIER (school) bus, creating a daily Auroville - Pondy route, as well as regular services to Sadhana Forest, Thiruvanamali and Chennai.

See Also

• Mobility