Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran has said that the proposed Kerala Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA) Bill will be instrumental in introducing a unique system for planning, supervision, coordination and integration of various modes of transport through a single authority and a new generation ticketing system.
He was speaking at a sitting of the 15-member select committee constituted to review the Bill and submit recommendations to the State legislature, at the Collectorate here on Friday.
Mr. Saseendran, who is also the chairman of the 15-member select committee, said the Bill, if implemented, would be beneficial for commuters in urban areas and would restrict the uncontrolled growth of private vehicles.
Tracking system
The Minister said the GPS-enabled tracking system had already been experimented in over 1,000 private buses in Kochi as part of the move to modernise the control and management of urban transport system. Chalo, a live bus-tracking application, was made available in the city to support the GPS-enabled services, he added.
The select committee held its first round of sitting in the city on Friday mainly to discuss the priority areas and suggestions to be incorporated in the Bill, considering the future developmental needs of the city. The sitting was attended by district-level officers representing various government departments.
Response, suggestions
The select committee members used a questionnaire to collect the opinion of those who attended the sitting on the new Bill. Representatives of various associations working in the area of transportation also attended the sitting and communicated their suggestions on developments in the area. The feedback received from the public from similar sittings in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram would be included while re-submitting the Bill to the State legislature.
The select committee members including people’s representatives and senior Transport Department officers said the implementation of the Bill would bring massive changes in the conventional transport system and the operation of various services in urban areas. Some services proposed in the Bill had already been piloted in some metro cities in Kerala, they said.
Motor Vehicles Department officials said the Authority would be responsible for all future transport investment programmes, and planning and development initiatives in collaboration with the respective government departments. After passing the Bill, a chief executive officer too would be appointed, they added.
