Tweet
Panel: Double public transport to check use of personal vehicles
As the share of public transport in overall motorised trips is decreasing sharply in urban areas, the Government could consider doubling the urban transport component in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). A working group, set up by Planning Commission to formulate urban transport plan for the 12th Plan (2012-17), has suggested this.
The group headed by Delhi Metro ex-chief E Sreedharan says that public transport share needs to be improved to 60 per cent of all motorised trips in the 12th Plan. For this the Government would have to put much more money into urban transport. One of the recommendations is to double the urban transport component in JNNURM. Currently, 21 per cent of the JNNURM allocation is used for urban transport projects.
“It is recommended that this should be doubled in the next phase of JNNURM till such time the dedicated urban transport at national level is established and sufficient inflows are generated to finance the urban transport projects,” reads the report.
The report emphasises that there is urgent need to strengthen public transport to check use of personal vehicle which is making cities “unlivable”. It notes that to augment public transport, the Government must introduce organised city bus service as per urban bus specifications issued by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in all 2-lakh plus cities and State capitals and add Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) at 20 km in all 51 cities with population above 1 million.
“Furthermore, the bus-based transport projects would need to be given infrastructure status as is available to railway projects so that these projects can take advantage of priority financing, lower rate of interest, financing for working capital, longer tenure of financing, and other fiscal incentives,” the report recommends.
While Metro is being taken to big cities, the Railways must provide Suburban rail services in urban agglomerations with population above 4 million. It should also add rail transit in towns at 10 km/million population. Simultaneously start planning rail transit projects in cities with population in excess of 2 million and start construction in cities with population in excess of 3 million. In addition, the Railways must expand rail transit in existing mega cities at 10 km per year.
The group has estimated a total fund requirement of Rs 2,02,628 crore for public transport in the 12th Plan. Of this Rs 13,759 crore would be needed for buses, Rs 29,603 crore for BRTS, Rs 1,30,726 crore for Metro, Rs 19,780 crore for commuter/regional rail and Rs 8,760 crore for bus infrastructure.
As the share of public transport in overall motorised trips is decreasing sharply in urban areas, the Government could consider doubling the urban transport component in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). A working group, set up by Planning Commission to formulate urban transport plan for the 12th Plan (2012-17), has suggested this.
The group headed by Delhi Metro ex-chief E Sreedharan says that public transport share needs to be improved to 60 per cent of all motorised trips in the 12th Plan. For this the Government would have to put much more money into urban transport. One of the recommendations is to double the urban transport component in JNNURM. Currently, 21 per cent of the JNNURM allocation is used for urban transport projects.
“It is recommended that this should be doubled in the next phase of JNNURM till such time the dedicated urban transport at national level is established and sufficient inflows are generated to finance the urban transport projects,” reads the report.
The report emphasises that there is urgent need to strengthen public transport to check use of personal vehicle which is making cities “unlivable”. It notes that to augment public transport, the Government must introduce organised city bus service as per urban bus specifications issued by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in all 2-lakh plus cities and State capitals and add Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) at 20 km in all 51 cities with population above 1 million.
“Furthermore, the bus-based transport projects would need to be given infrastructure status as is available to railway projects so that these projects can take advantage of priority financing, lower rate of interest, financing for working capital, longer tenure of financing, and other fiscal incentives,” the report recommends.
While Metro is being taken to big cities, the Railways must provide Suburban rail services in urban agglomerations with population above 4 million. It should also add rail transit in towns at 10 km/million population. Simultaneously start planning rail transit projects in cities with population in excess of 2 million and start construction in cities with population in excess of 3 million. In addition, the Railways must expand rail transit in existing mega cities at 10 km per year.
The group has estimated a total fund requirement of Rs 2,02,628 crore for public transport in the 12th Plan. Of this Rs 13,759 crore would be needed for buses, Rs 29,603 crore for BRTS, Rs 1,30,726 crore for Metro, Rs 19,780 crore for commuter/regional rail and Rs 8,760 crore for bus infrastructure.
