The Times of India 19.10.2010
BMTC set to pioneer use of common mobility card
BANGALORE: In all likelihood, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will pioneer the use of `common mobility card' being launched by the Union urban development ministry.
At an international conference on infrastructure, sustainable transportation and urban planning at IISc on Monday, officer on special duty from the ministry, S K Lohia, made the offer to BMTC managing director Syed Zamir Pasha. "We'd like the BMTC, which has been pioneering quality public transport in the country, to launch the common mobility card system. We request the corporation to introduce the card on an initial fleet of 1,000 buses. Depending on how it works, we can extend it all over Bangalore and to other cities as well," Lohia said.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Lohia appreciated the BMTC for its efficient public service. "It has been offering quality service to people at affordable cost. In fact, BMTC is the country's only profitable public transport service. No other service anywhere else is working like BMTC; it is leading by example."
Pasha said the corporation is open to the idea of launching a pilot project of the common mobility card. "We have been setting precedents for urban transport in the country. We'd like to initiate this project too. We may look at deploying 1,000 buses initially. The cards can be used for different forms of public transport and can even support other urban services," Pasha said. The scheme will work with central funds on the lines of JNNURM.
CHANGE IN MINDSET
Pasha said BMTC's Volvos have changed the face of transportation in the city. "A lot of people who were used to plying to offices on their own vehicles are now doing so in Volvos. We did lose revenue initially, but no longer. There is a change in the transport mindset in Bangalore," he said.
The city's ever-growing population and increasing demands on public transport, pollution, road conditions and accidents are the main challenges facing public transport. The BMTC has been a principal contributor in setting up of the centre for infrastructure, sustainable transport and urban planning, having contributed Rs 15 crore of its Rs 30-crore corpus fund.
KSRTC MD Gaurav Gupta said public mobility is a key variable in urban transportation planning. "We need mobility systems that are intelligent and inclusive. These systems should be planned simultaneously with urban development. Integrated planning is the need of the hour," Gupta said.
TOPICS GALORE
A series of issues are being discussed at the conference, being attended by over 300 delegates from India and abroad. On the inaugural day, experts discussed issues relating to infrastructure, sustainable transportation and urban planning.
The focus over the next two days will be on infrastructural engineering and management, solid waste and urban water management, seismic microzonation of urban centers and disaster mitigation, hazard studies due to earthquakes, landslides and floods, sustainable transportation planning, public transport and non-motorized transport,etc.
At an international conference on infrastructure, sustainable transportation and urban planning at IISc on Monday, officer on special duty from the ministry, S K Lohia, made the offer to BMTC managing director Syed Zamir Pasha. "We'd like the BMTC, which has been pioneering quality public transport in the country, to launch the common mobility card system. We request the corporation to introduce the card on an initial fleet of 1,000 buses. Depending on how it works, we can extend it all over Bangalore and to other cities as well," Lohia said.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Lohia appreciated the BMTC for its efficient public service. "It has been offering quality service to people at affordable cost. In fact, BMTC is the country's only profitable public transport service. No other service anywhere else is working like BMTC; it is leading by example."
Pasha said the corporation is open to the idea of launching a pilot project of the common mobility card. "We have been setting precedents for urban transport in the country. We'd like to initiate this project too. We may look at deploying 1,000 buses initially. The cards can be used for different forms of public transport and can even support other urban services," Pasha said. The scheme will work with central funds on the lines of JNNURM.
CHANGE IN MINDSET
Pasha said BMTC's Volvos have changed the face of transportation in the city. "A lot of people who were used to plying to offices on their own vehicles are now doing so in Volvos. We did lose revenue initially, but no longer. There is a change in the transport mindset in Bangalore," he said.
The city's ever-growing population and increasing demands on public transport, pollution, road conditions and accidents are the main challenges facing public transport. The BMTC has been a principal contributor in setting up of the centre for infrastructure, sustainable transport and urban planning, having contributed Rs 15 crore of its Rs 30-crore corpus fund.
KSRTC MD Gaurav Gupta said public mobility is a key variable in urban transportation planning. "We need mobility systems that are intelligent and inclusive. These systems should be planned simultaneously with urban development. Integrated planning is the need of the hour," Gupta said.
TOPICS GALORE
A series of issues are being discussed at the conference, being attended by over 300 delegates from India and abroad. On the inaugural day, experts discussed issues relating to infrastructure, sustainable transportation and urban planning.
The focus over the next two days will be on infrastructural engineering and management, solid waste and urban water management, seismic microzonation of urban centers and disaster mitigation, hazard studies due to earthquakes, landslides and floods, sustainable transportation planning, public transport and non-motorized transport,etc.
