Close on the heels of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) agreeing to operate feeder buses from Kochi metro stations to major city hubs and suburban towns, the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) is gearing up to operate mini buses linking stations with residential areas.
With KSRTC having phased out most of its mini buses, the metro agency is expected to float tenders shortly to take on rent a fleet of around 100 buses (16- to 24-seaters) for the purpose. The buses will not be under the metro agency’s direct control and will be entrusted to a contractor for upkeep, it is learnt.
Based on a study done by New Delhi-based Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC), the KMRL had readied a list of 40 routes connecting 22 metro stations in the 25-km-long Aluva-Palarivattom route.
The Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation’s (KURTC) AC and non-AC low-floor buses will operate feeder trips along main roads, while the mini buses will ply through side roads. At Wednesday’s meeting held in the presence of Transport Secretary K.R. Jyotilal, the metro agency handed over to KSRTC a copy of the study done by UMTC and details of the proposed routes.
“We are also keen on installing radio frequency identification devices (RFID) in low-floor buses that will operate along metro’s feeder routes, so that metro commuters can enjoy seamless inter-modal connectivity using pre-paid smart cards,” metro sources said.
KSRTC Managing Director M.G. Rajamanickam had stated that the CNG buses the agency was planning to induct could also be operated along metro’s feeder routes. A couple of such buses were doing trial runs and they could be delivered within a month of placing orders, he said.
Private buses
Meanwhile, uncertainty prevails about a few dozen private buses that were expected to be roped in as metro’s feeder service. The general secretary of Ernakulam District Private Bus Operators’ Association K.B. Suneer said the KMRL held two rounds of meetings with private bus operators on re- routing buses away from the metro corridor, using a few of them as feeder services and installing RFID in them. “We will not totally withdraw from the metro route since buses have stops close to each other, unlike the metro which has stations located a kilometre away,” he said.
Bus timetable
The KMRL and the Motor Vehicles Department are engaged in finalising an integrated bus timetable that will ready dynamic time schedules of 1,000 private and 400 KSRTC/KURTC buses in Kochi. A bus operational control centre too has been planned to track the movement of 1,400 buses using global positioning system (GPS). This will also feed information to the RTO office and the City Traffic Police.
