Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has commissioned a study to find out how buses operating in Ernakulam-Aluva and other arterial stretches can be re-routed in tandem with the commissioning of Kochi Metro in June 2016.
The study involves identifying financially-viable routes that will cater to the needs of bus commuters. The study is being carried out by the Delhi-based Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC), which has begun taking feedback from commuters on the issue of rerouting bus services.
Around 650 private buses operate with city permits, most of them plying between Ernakulam and Aluva. These buses will be the hardest hit with the commissioning of the metro rail.
Metro sources said that they foresee large-scale migration from buses to the metro, since proposed metro fare will be nominally higher than buses.
“Commuters can also save time, while travelling in air-conditioned comfort. Private buses now charge Rs. 18 for a trip between Ernakulam and Aluva. The expected metro rail tariff for the same distance is Rs. 24.”
The Ernakulam-Aluva route is one of the busiest in the entire State and at present private buses make over four trips a day connecting the two town centres with an average load of 30 to 35 passengers.
KMRL sources said that the process of re-routing of the bus service was natural. “We held four rounds of talks with bus owners. They were amenable to the prospect of re-routing buses, since commuter patronage along the Aluva-Tripunithura/Kakkanad corridors would lessen once the metro is commissioned up to Tripunithura and Kakkanad.”
The metro is likely to have its own standardised feeder-service system to ferry commuters to and from metro stations from busy junctions in the city and immediate suburbs.
