State assigns RITES to conduct study on city’s ‘Mobility Plan’

Kolkata: The Transport department has assigned RITES to conduct a study on ‘Mobility Plan’ in the city which will point out which type of transport can be viable in the different routes of the city.

The study assumes significance in the backdrop of several bus routes in the city being withdrawn and many others struggling for survival due to the dwindling count of passengers. “In routes across where Metro services are plying, the bus routes are not getting enough passengers. Hence, I will urge the bus operators to think of some diversion in the conventional routes so the same can be viable. We have assigned RITES to do a mobility study of the city transport based on which we will sit with the operators and police, and realign the routes so that they become viable,” said state Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty at the annual meeting of the City Suburban Bus Service (CSBS).

The minister informed about the government’s decision to move the Supreme Court challenging Calcutta High Court’s direction for phasing out vehicles attaining 15 years of age in the Kolkata Metropolitan Authority (KMA) area. The state will urge the apex court to extend the deadline upto 20 years. As per estimates of the state Transport department, 1500 odd vehicles will be phased out by 2025-end for attaining 15 years of age. The move follows a deputation from CSBS to the Transport department to extend the

limit to 20 years.

“Several bus owners are not in a position to afford new buses if their vehicles get scrapped after 15 years. The Urban Development and Municipal Affairs department gets a fund every year from the Centre. If a portion of it can be diverted then the bus owners can afford to buy a new vehicle in the range of Rs 6-7 lakh,” suggested Tito Saha, general secretary of CSBS.

Secretary of Transport department Saumitra Mohan suggested the bus operators rethink the way in which they are carrying out their business with new means of transport barging into the sector.

“The common people now want a comfortable hassle free travel experience and there is a large section of passengers who are ready to spend an extra bit for such an experience. You can think of introducing value added services in a section of buses similar to that of app cabs.

You can also think of properly painting the bus, maintaining the seats properly and training for the bus drivers and conductors so that they are polite in their behaviour with the passengers,” he added.