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October 25, 2013Policy Brief on National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP)
Policy Brief on National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) prepared by CPPR for the Mayor of Cochin, Kerala, India
- Forming city specific Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with stakeholders. Guidelines and structure to be clearly laid out for the State Government and Urban Local Bodies (ULB)’s in the SPV.
– Public Bus system to be regulated and monitored by ULB/City Corporation
– Routing and identification of new bus routes to be done in consultation with ULB/City Corporation.
– PPP model to be explored in Cochin City which has majority of private bus operators. Under SPV, all these operations can be brought under the same body while the operators can retain the ownership of their buses. The profit will be shared based on the distance covered than the number of commuters boarded the bus.
– Identification of Bus Stops, Street furniture’s etc to be decided in consultation with City Councillors and Municipal Corporation.
– City to city or town to town operations to be introduced
– Buses sanctioned under JnNURM scheme to be introduced in cities like Cochin keeping in mind the local requirements. Scope of Mini-buses, shared systems etc to be explored.
- Urban Transport Fund to be constituted at the earliest in Cochin City
- Measures shall be taken to implement a regulatory/institutional mechanism for revision of fares of city based transport systems with consultation of Corporation of Cochin.
- Cities like Cochin with share of Public Transportation (currently at 23%) shall be encouraged to increase the share through special provisions and funding.
- UMTA to be setup with clear cut role definition for the stakeholders. Should involve experts and professionals for developing city planning, traffic management and enabling Transit Oriented Development (TOD) within and outside city limits. Government should ensure both physical and monetary provisions for such an expert body
- Proper integration of existing Intermediate Para-transit systems (IPT) like Share auto/taxis into the Transport system. City permits or route permits for IPT’s to be introduced. Route identifications, re-routing and route rationalisation shall be done by respective RTO’s of the District in consultation with ULB/City Corporation. The rights to issue permits to the share autos and the decision on the modes of their operations shall lie with the city corporations. Necessary changes in the State Motor Vehicle Acts shall be brought in.
- Funding and support to be provided for developing Water Transport in cities like Kochi which has extensive water linkages. Scope for support in JnNURM to be explored.
- Traffic and mobility management in cities to be effectively managed with the help of technology or ITS. Introducing and implementing GPS systems shall be made mandatory for all public transport providers, bus, taxis, autorikshaws etc. Steps for ensuring the implementation ofTraffic Management Control System in Cochin City as a priority. Tech based companies and start-ups to be involved for effective and efficient systems for managing City mobility.
- Pedestrianisation and improving street’s to be given priority in City Planning. Special funds to be demarcated for cities that have incorporated such provisions in their budgets. Ward Councilors at City Corporations to be encouraged to improve streets and roads within their jurisdiction. Special schemes and provisions for encouraging them to be introduced.
- Parking management to be vested with City Corporations. Traffic Police to co-ordinate with City Corporation for monitoring and implementing traffic management measures. Opinions of stakeholders such as Ward Councillors, Resident Associations etc to be taken into consideration for the same. Parking policies shall be revised every two years.
- Suitable regulatory and legal changes for enabling increase of taxes, cess etc for motor vehicles within the city limits to be implemented. Scope of implanting congestion tax, green tax etc to be explored in Cochin City limits. Suitable legislation to amend Motor Vehicles Act to allow Para-transit systems and share autos within city limit of Cochin to be implemented.
- Cochin Corporation seeks help and advise on effectively implementing the following steps and reforms. A direct link or a responsible person shall be allocated for the Corporation to interact ,discuss or review the activities.
- Budgetary allocation for city traffic centre to conduct regular studies and research on the mobility features of the commuting population, transit oriented development for improving the infrastructure for the city transport plans, street designing etc shall be regularised.
- Budgetary allocation for pedestrian audits, access audits etc shall be regularised. These audits will be conducted by the RAs and CSOs in partnership with the city corporation on a regular basis. The findings and recommendations will be discussed in Corporation council meetings. Follow up actions will be the responsibility of the Public works and Town Planning committees.
- Sufficient funding for water transport provisions in the city has to be ensured. For the city transport plans, provisions for city corporation administered bodies to facilitate both road and water transport shall be brought in.
View the National Urban Transport Policy here.. National Urban Transport Policy
Prepared by Centre for Public Policy Research
1 Comment
Nice and good