Kochi: As
part of the formation of Metro Cochin Transport Corporation (MCTC), a
special purpose vehicle to manage the urban transport sector, a meeting
of stakeholders convened by the mayor Tony Chammany has proposed that
the civic body look at taking over the JNNURM low floor buses from KSRTC
or have its own bus services.

Another major proposal was
to run buses on a public private participation (PPP) basis with the
corporation having 51 per cent stake and the rest with government
employees and the public.
The meeting also mooted incorporating all
private buses plying on city routes to be under the MCTC. Gulati
Institute of Finance and Taxation member James Vadakkan is to be
entrusted with conducting a feasibility study and submitting the report.

It was also proposed to request the government to constitute an exclusive SPV for Kochi in the urban transport sector. Since
the Centre has already issued guidelines for JNNURM Phase II, formation
of an SPV and Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) is
mandatory to get funds for the urban transport sector and additional low
floor buses.  The authority will function as a coordinating agency
integrating various stakeholder departments.

There
is an increased public demand for an independent authority to
co-ordinate public transport in a developing metropolis like Kochi. In
many other metros in the country, city transport authorities are
coordinating urban transport, the meeting observed.

Deputy
mayor B. Bhadra, standing committee chairpersons, corporation secretary
Ajith Patil, James Vadakkan, Centre for Heritage, Environment and
Development director Rajan Chedambath and Centre for Public Policy
Research chairman D. Dhanuraj also attended the meeting.