Page 47 - TT Magazine Feb-Mar 2019

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The key issue has specifically been around how

we justify the funding for large projects and why
not putting the fund on smaller projects that can
be more revenue generating as well. As the large

projects are not being coherently planned, we are
not sure if the end users are benefited. If you talk
about the sea-link, the sea-link is only going to be
used by the urban elite public. However, there has

not been any framework to bring in the funding for
that project from the urban elite.

Rushabh Shah

would like to have in a city for today, service stated Proff Swamy, “When you and if that comes into effect UMTA will
tomorrow and day after, and that is look at origin and the destination of a automatically come to effect.”
one part of it. Number two, UMTA mode, let us understand how it works
would have a greater role, a significant rather than whether it is provided by Funding and Financing
role as an integrator, integrating land public or private or it is a part of a travel Mechanisms
use transport, transport modes and trip. The last point one would like to “Public transport initiatives have to
information. Number three, UMTA emphasize is that the hurdle in this emerge locally, have to have some
has to perform the role of a regulator, whole process is the involvement of kind of a driving force within the urban
controlling the entry-exits of multiple multiple agencies.” local bodies. Just like you have water
systems. Number four, it would have Adding to the challenges Patwardhan charge or water tax, or sewerage tax,
to be a financier, it would have to have said, “India does not have a Transport we need to have a transport tax”,
certain roles in terms of generation Act; what we have is Motor Vehicle stated Prof Swamy. We need to have
of resources and distributing them Act; so pedestrians, NMT, railways, a dedicated, locally generated resource
at certain level, maybe from the
government and maybe from the everything works under different acts. base for public transport and that has
department of land or transportation So, we need to have a transport act to happen at the local level. Surat and
All these are strategic roles whereas
there won’t be tactical roles in terms
of multimodal interchange. In fact,
Surat has three different systems, BRT,
City Bus and HMC; all of them have a
single ticket already and have physical
integration. Those tactical roles can
happen without UMTA. Now there
are plans to integrate autorickshaws
into the system as part of the whole
process. This process of the integration
would have to happen with or without
UMTA; we don’t have to wait for
UMTA and that is an important point
which we must think about.
We need to look at mobility as a

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