Page 2 - Public Transport

Single smart card for different public transport modes in Bengaluru soon

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Anjum Parwez on Thursday said soon passengers depending on different modes of public transport like Metro, cab and buses can travel using a single smart card. Speaking at a session on "The C.A.S.E. for Future Mobility" at the 'Bengaluru Tech Summit-23' here, he said the Union Government has planned to introduce a single smart card for the passengers traveling in different public transports. It is a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, six City Corporations will get the facility soon. Bangalore Metro was committed to ensure eco-friendly activities and in order to encourage eco-friendly traffic systems, Parwez said, Metro stations were facilitated with two-wheeler and three-wheeler electric vehicle charging units. Uber India Director Sanjay Chadha, who was part of the panel said the passengers should shift from cabs to public transport like buses to ensure free flow of traffic and to reduce traffic

UK firms ready to help Bengal develop green public transport system: Envoy

The British delegation for the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) has several companies with expertise in running trams and other modes of green public transport, and they would like to help in developing such a system in West Bengal, a UK envoy said on Monday. BGBS, West Bengal's marquee business summit, begins here on Tuesday. Trams are still running in many cities in the UK and also in South London, UK Deputy High Commissioner to East and Northeast India, Andrew Fleming, pointed out. "We are happy that our delegation for the BGBS has many companies with expertise in running trams and other modes of green public transport. They would be ready to help in the movement of people in cities and towns of West Bengal," Fleming said. Trams are an iconic feature and a heritage symbol of Kolkata, he said before riding a special tram operated by the West Bengal Transport Department from Tollygunge to Ballygunge, a distance of around 5 km in the southern part of the city. The British ...

Don't burn crackers, use public transport: Delhi health department

From avoiding outdoor walks to saying no to burning firecrackers, the Delhi health department has advised a slew of measures in view of the pollution in the national capital. The advisory, published in major dailies on Saturday has also underlined that pregnant women, patients with underlying medical conditions, children and the elderly population should be more cautious and avoid exposure to air pollution. However, intermittent rains on Thursday night and Friday brought major relief from the hazardous air lingering over the national capital for two weeks. It also prompted the Delhi government to postpone the implementation of the odd-even car rationing scheme. At 7 am on Saturday, the capital's air quality index (AQI) stood at 219, which is a marked improvement compared to Thursday's 24-hour average AQI of 437. The city experienced "very poor" to "severe" air quality for two weeks starting October 28. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101

Air emergency: Health advisory for schools call for use of public transport

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) pegged the city's overall AQI at 398 at 10.30 am on Friday

Planning for megapolises: What to expect from infra boom in NCR and Mumbai

In time we might see the Indian equivalent of the Greater Bay area of southern China. It may be time to plan ahead for better outcomes than we have seen so far in India's cities, writes T N Ninan

Blurry skyline: Businesses hold their breath in Mumbai's smog-choked skies

With project execution and commercial office operations unaffected, city hopes for its air troubles to blow over

Delhi govt to launch premium bus aggregator service to encourage people: CM

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced the Delhi government will introduce a premium bus aggregator scheme to encourage the upper middle class to switch to public transport. Addressing a press conference here, he said the scheme will be notified following Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena's approval. "When the metro started in Delhi, there were many people who stopped using scooters and started using the metro. But when the metro trains started getting crowded, they again went back to using their own vehicles. People from the lower middle class and economy classes travel in buses but with this scheme, people from the upper middle class will also opt for public transport," Kejriwal said. Under this scheme, he said, the aggregators who take licenses will have to ply air-conditioned buses with not less than nine seats. "No standing passengers will be allowed and the payment will be made digitally. The aggregators will have to maintain fleets of a minimum of 25 buse

Odisha to launch over Rs 3,000 cr scheme for public, commodity transport

The Odisha government has approved a proposal to launch a scheme with an estimated cost of over Rs 3,000 crore to ensure sustainable, affordable and safe transportation of passengers and commodities across the state, a minister said. The roll-out of the Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative was among 19 proposals, which were given go ahead at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday. Under the new scheme, the government will be able to ensure a seamless public transport network across Odisha from the gram panchayat level to the state capital to provide reliable and affordable services, state Education Minister Atanu S Nayak said. Within the framework of the scheme, women's empowerment stands as the top priority. Due to safe transport space, women would be encouraged to participate actively in the workforce. Mission Shakti Self Help Groups (SHGs) will be engaged in various operation and maintenance-related activities within the blocks, the minister ..

UP govt planning to establish waterways on 8 rivers for public transport

The Uttar Pradesh government plans to use eight rivers as inland waterways to improve connectivity and transportation of goods, especially bulk cargo such as foodgrains and fertilisers. Senior state government officials said the Yamuna, Gomti, Assi, Ghaghra, Rapti Betwa, Chambal and the Varuna rivers will be used as waterways to transport goods and people. The move is in line with the BJP-led Centre's Maritime India Vision 2030 that envisages increasing the share of inland water transport to five per cent by 2030. Work on achieving the target has already started. The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government aims to provide the plan with a shot in the arm, the officials said. The proposed waterways authority will have officials from the transport, irrigation and tourism departments. However, the initial work to survey prospective waterways has been assigned to transport department officials. Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh told PTI on Saturday, "Mother Nature

US govt awarding $1.7 billion to buy electric, low-emission buses

The US Department of Transportation is awarding almost USD 1.7 billion in grants for buying zero- and low-emission buses, with the money going to transit projects in 46 states and territories. The grants will enable transit agencies and state and local governments to buy 1,700 U.S.-built buses, nearly half of which will have zero carbon emissions. Funding for the grants comes from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden. The Democratic president has made it a priority to put more electric vehicles on the road especially for schools and public transit in an effort to contain the damage from climate change. Every day, millions of Americans climb aboard over 60,000 buses to get to work, to school, doctor's appointments, everywhere they need to be, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a call with reporters. These are unprecedented levels of investment when it comes to putting modern cleaner buses on the road. Monday's announcement cov

Policies to get public transport in most cities soon: Advisor to PM

The government will come out with policies to introduce public transport in most Indian cities, and the electric vehicle industry can expect "very large" support in this segment, Advisor to Prime Minister Tarun Kapoor said on Tuesday. In an analysis, it was realised that public transport is missing in most of the Indian cities. "So, while the government now will come out with policies to get public transport to most of the Indian cities, we will also ensure that this happens with electricity and not with diesel. Therefore, on public transport also you can look forward to a very large support from the government coming in. "So that not only we will see the transition from diesel buses, but we will also see more and more of public transport, which is missing, and electric coming in," he said. Kapoor was speaking at a function on electric mobility here. He also called upon the EV industry to focus on innovation to cut the prices of vehicles and reduce battery size. Penetration of EV

Taxis and buses to ply on odd-even basis in Shillong's Khyndailad area

The district administration here has issued instructions for all buses and taxis to ply on odd-even basis from Kachari point to Motphran localities here to ease congestion from next week, officials said on Thursday. East Khasi Hills district magistrate RM Kurbah issued the order in pursuance of the High Court order to adopt measures to ease traffic congestion on the roads in the state capital here. All public transport vehicles (buses, maxi cabs and taxis) plying from Kachari point towards Police Bazaar and Motphran are to operate on an odd-even basis, Kurbah stated in an order. She also said that vehicles with registration numbers ending 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are to ply on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while those registration ending in even numbers are to ply on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, adding that no restriction is applicable on Sundays. The odd-even basis will be applicable from June 5 onwards, she said, instructing all vehicles to keep copies of the registration ...

Germany sets new standard for cheap, national mass transit at $54 a month

The impact of the ticket could ripple through to other countries by taking the potentially radical step of positioning transit systems as a public good to which all deserve affordable access

Encouraging trend for public transport in India: PM Modi on Kolkata metro

The trial run on the 4.8 km underground section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will begin soon

LIVE: Arvind Kejriwal's fight against corruption won't stop, says AAP

Catch live updates from across the globe here

Govt implementing measures to promote public transport: Nitin Gadkari

The Minister expressed the view that about 40% of the total air pollution in the country is due to road traffic and it is necessary to promote public transport in the country

Number of pink passes for women in DTC, cluster buses touches 1 bn mark

The number of pink passes given to women travelling in state run buses has touched the 100-crore mark, an official statement said on Friday. The city government said Delhi was the first in India to initiate free travel for women on such a large scale and highlighted that 25 per cent women travelled in state run buses in 2020-21 while the figure increased to 33 per cent in 2022-23. If the ridership of Delhi buses (DTC and DIMTS combined) is to be seen, it is slowly inching back towards the pre-Covid numbers, the statement said. In 2019-20, Delhi buses had a ridership of more than 160 crore. Due to the Covid pandemic, it dropped to 71 crore in 2020-21 but recovered slightly to 93 crore in 2021-22, it said. Since April 2022 till today, it has reached nearly 125 crore, almost 75 per cent of the pre-Covid numbers. Across these years, since the beginning of free travel for women in October 2019, the pink ticket ridership has grown from 25 per cent in 2020-21 and 28 per cent in 2021-22 t

J-K govt to procure 200 e-buses for environment-friendly public transport

The Jammu and Kashmir government is procuring a fleet of 200 electric buses to establish environment-friendly and socially sustainable network of public transport in the Union Territory's twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, officials said on Friday. For this, Tata Motors has been given land to build the depot whose construction has started, they said. The Jammu and Kashmir government is procuring 100 e-buses each for both the capital cities, the officials said. The electric buses will establish an environmentally, socially and financially sustainable network of public transport in the city, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL) Rahul Yadav who reviewed the project. He said that the electric buses will play a vital role in facilitating tourists as well as people.

10 passenger trains running late in northern India due to low visibility

As many as 10 passenger trains are running late in the northern region due to low visibility, informed Railway officials on Wednesday

Nearly 80% reserved Railway tickets are sold online: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha said that about 80 per cent of railway reserved tickets are booked online.Vaishnaw said, "mobile application on various platforms is also available for booking reserved and unreserved tickets as well as provision of other railway services."The digitalisation of railway services and databases is an ongoing process."The information technology applications of Indian railways cater to transportation services (passenger and freight), fixed infrastructure (project, operations and maintenance), rolling stock (manufacture, operations and maintenance) and resource management (finance, materials and human resources)," he further added.Vaishnaw said that the digital initiatives and on-ground services are seamlessly integrated through well-documented instructions and manuals.