Now, bike taxis to ply on Kolkata's streets
27 March 2018 5:45 PM GMT
Kolkata: Bike taxis are soon going to hit the streets of Kolkata and notification in this regard will be issued shortly.
After its immense success in New Town and Rajarhat, the two-wheeler mode public transport is also going to be a part of the life of Kolkattans soon.
It may be recalled that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in this regard during the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in January 2018. The MoU was signed between the state Transport department and the private company that will operate the bike taxis.
"The MoU has already been signed in this connection during the BGBS and it is going to hit the city roods soon," said state Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari.
It may be mentioned that the introduction of bike taxis in the city will create a new dimension in the public transport sector. An official said that with notification getting issued, the same can be introduced in several other parts of the urban areas in the state.
Like New Town and Rajarhat, all sorts of safety measures will be in place, the official said and added: "But it is a bit different from the operational point of view if the one going to be introduced in Kolkata is compared to that of Rajarhat and New Town. There the private company, running the entire operation following all necessary guidelines of the state Transport department, owns all the motorbikes and it is the company itself who had engaged youths to ride them. The company also provided them with all the necessary training. But in Kolkata aggregators will enter into an agreement with a person who owns a two-wheeler and will ride as well. The aggregators will follow the line of app cabs."
One of the cab aggregators that has a wide presence in the city is also going to introduce their bike taxis in Kolkata, the official added.
"Based on the agreement between the aggregator and the bike owners, the latter will take passengers on two-wheelers to their destinations following the set norms," the official said, adding that one can book the bike taxi using a cell phone app as it is now done to book an app-based cab.
According to officials of the state Transport department, once it starts in the city, more aggregators will show interest in entering into the business of plying bike taxis.
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