New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways signed an MoU with Transport for London in New Delhi today. The MoU is aimed at using the expertise of TFL to revamp the public transport architecture in the country. TFL is the agency that manages the transport system for Greater London, and has demonstrated its capability by creating a strong and dependable public transport system in the city.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari said that the country needs a good transport policy that promotes convenient and comfortable public transport system. He said an effective public transport system would be one that ran on electricity or other less polluting, indigenously produced fuels like methanol, ethanol and bio-diesel. Such a system would not only reduce pollution, but would also be cost effective, he said.
The Minister further said that to implement reforms in public transport systems in the country, we have to learn from the best practices across the world. The government has to facilitate the capacity building in public transport with learnings from the experienced and proven public transport agencies like TFL.
TFL has created a unique system of operating buses in PPP model with over 17 operators under a single brand. A salient feature has been their double decker buses which provide for high capacity with low road space requirement. They have also been operating large number of electric and hybrid buses. The common mobility card is another successful product launched by TFL which has made travel easy for the commuters and accounting easier for the operators. As a result of creation of a successful public transport system in London, the city has not seen any increase in number of their private cars.
Shri Gadkari said that the proposed MoU will help to revamp the public transport and augment passenger capacity by way of creating a sustainable public transport system. It will help us adopt best practices for policy reforms in the transport sector. It will also enable improved customer services, harness from scientific data analysis and implement effective IT systems in the transport sector. The MoU can see an increase the use of electric vehicles in public transport and promote digital transaction for ticketing. It can also help us improve major procurement strategies including PPP models for operations, infrastructure maintenance strategies, infrastructure design and delivery, besides promoting behavioral change towards promotion of public transport.
