The organisation of city bus operators under seven societies formed at the instance of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) as part of the proposed Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) to coordinate multiple modes of transport alongside Kochi Metro may serve another unexpected purpose, ie. spare the city roads of blood-spilling caused by rash and negligent driving by bus drivers.
The KMRL’s proposal to pool the collection from the operation of buses and share it equally among members of each society may ultimately make the city roads safer.
“There is no question that the proposal is a win-win situation for both bus owners and passengers while making the city roads safer by ending reckless driving to net more collection. But the onus is on the State government to pass the UMTA legislation to make proposals such as route and fare rationalisation, common pooling of collection, and their sharing a reality.
At present, there is a notification regarding UMTA, which is not adequate to pass on powers from various authorities to the proposed UMTA,” said K.J. Sohan, former Kochi Mayor who is closely associated with the development initiative of the city.
Most bus owners seem open to the idea and are actively considering it for implementation at a later stage. In fact, a section of bus owners have implemented a somewhat similar arrangement at Panthirankavu in Kozhikode.
“Such an arrangement will put an end to unhealthy competition among bus operators,” said K.B. Suneer, district general secretary, Private Bus Operators Association.
Mobility plan
About 170 private buses currently plying through the city routes will be rerouted once the Kochi Metro services become fully operational. As per the Comprehensive Mobility Plan readied by the KMRL, only 244 private buses will be operated in the city routes instead of the current 414 while the number of long route permits will go up from the existing 573 to 714. A total of 1,390 buses are currently being operated, both KSRTC and private, in 773 routes touching the metro corridors.
The formation of seven societies by private bus operators earlier this month covers 900 buses with the underlying objective of streamlining the public transport network in sync with the Kochi Metro.
Four of these societies - My Metro Bus Service LLP, Kochi Wheels United LLP, Kochi Metro Transport Co-operative Society and Perfect Buses Metro services LLP – have already been registered.
Buses registered with the societies will be enabled with GPS Tracking, mobile journey planner and smart card ticketing.
