Minister for Transport Antony Raju will chair the second meeting of the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA) on June 4.
It will be more of an introductory meeting, where the Minister will be apprised of the KMTA’s mandate and the priority areas that the authority had identified since its inception in November 2020. The agency, the first of its kind in India which was established with legislative backing, also needs more personnel and funds to function as expected, official sources said.
The priority areas include the Comprehensive mobility plan that was readied to seamlessly integrate different modes of public transport, including re-routing of buses through corridors which have little or no public transport connectivity. Feeder services for the Kochi metro is yet another priority area. The authority has been considering several options, including operating mini buses to link suburban towns with the Kochi metro corridor.
The KMTA had recently requested the KSRTC to operate circular buses from Goshree Islands to Kochi, since private buses from the region are not permitted to enter the city. The buses are expected to begin services once the lockdown in Ernakulam ends. Revising rules to permit entry of private buses into the city will take more time, they added.
