Garage may be made mandatory to own car

Legal framework proposed to reduce vehicular population in Bangalore

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Making Public Transport the First Choice for All’ here on Tuesday, the Secretary Shankaralinge Gowda said he was keen on bringing a rule that prohibits people from owning a four-wheeler without having a garage.

“There needs to be some laws that make owning private vehicles more difficult so as to reduce vehicular population and increase use of public transport,” he noted.
Gowda said he has already given a copy of a similar notification issued by a state government to Transport Commissioner Bhaskar Rao. A decision would be possible only after deliberations, he added.

Cause of congestion

Reeling out statistics, Gowda said there were about 7.5 million people and 3.75 million vehicles in the City. About 6,000 buses facilitate travel of four million people while autos transport about two million. “The balance of two million people own about 3.7 million vehicles leading to congestion.”

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Managing Director Syed Zameer Pasha spoke about several initiatives taken by the BMTC including Bus Day to attract people use public transport. The Corporation will have a fleet of 10,000 buses by the end of 2015 which means an addition of 4,000 vehicles in the next five years.

Swedish Ambassador to India Lars-Olof Lindgren, said that they were pleased to be associated with Volvo Buses in India to promote the message of sustainable urban transport.

8-point criteria

Volvo Buses Corporation Public Affairs Director Ulf Gustanfsson gave an eight-point criteria to be met for people to begin using public transport in a big away. He said public transport, buses for instance, must be attractive, comfortable, clean, safe and have an environmental profile, speed to take passengers quickly, traffic information and direct connectivity. He spoke at length on the Bus Rapid Transport System implemented in many cities across the globe.

Pranav Jha of ‘Praja’ said there needs to be an increased participation of the citizens in decision making so that the implementation was s smooth and effective. He suggested efforts from the authorities in a big way to draw people and seek their opinion. The event was organised jointly by the Sweedish Embassy and Volvo Buses as part of the Nobel Week.

Rs 10 lakh award for  sustainable public transport

As part of the Nobel Memorial Week celebrations, Volvo Buses has instituted an award of Rs 10 lakh to any organisation or group for outstanding work in the field of sustainable public transport.

Volvo Buses India Managing Director Akash Passey said that award, to be conferred from 2011, will be presented by the Ambassador of Sweden to India. The nominations for this award can come from across the country and the eligibility criteria for participation and other details will be announced shortly.