The Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) will turn a reality in Ernakulam on November 1.
Minister for Transport A.K. Saseendran will inaugurate the functioning of the authority. It is expected to integrate different modes of public transport. In the first phase, the authority will have places under the Kochi Corporation under its jurisdiction, followed by those under the Goshree Island Development Authority (GIDA) and the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), according to an official release.
Around 1,000 private bus operators affiliated to various associations have formed six limited liability partnership (LLP) companies as part of the initiative. The formation of a society to bring the 15,000-odd autorickshaws operating in the region under it has also been completed.
The project aims at bringing various modes of public transport — metro, buses, ferries, autorickshaws, and taxi cars — under the umbrella of the authority. Apart from bringing about reliability of services at regular intervals, it will ensure availability of public transport on routes that were hitherto not networked by it. UMTA is mainly based on three foundations that include a single timetable for different modes of transport, single command and control, and single ticket.
