Old Airport Road Metro line dumped to accommodate pod-taxis?

Has the controversial pod-taxi sabotaged a much-needed and proposed Metro Phase 3 line through the crowded Old Airport Road? Although the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) had clearly indicated this line in its pre-feasibility report, the Karnataka Budget has entirely skipped it.

This newspaper had questioned the rationale behind installing an untested, low-capacity pod-taxi network on a route identified for a Metro line.

If the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has its way, the pod-taxi would have its pillars erected right on the median strip. This would have come into conflict with Metro pillars.

Did the budget dump the Metro line so that this conflict could be resolved? As urban mobility experts contend, this could be a serious miscalculation as traffic on Old Airport Road has risen exponentially, triggering high congestion points at several junctions. Pod-taxis, even with high frequency, can never be a decongestion strategy.

A Metro line linking Trinity on MG Road with Hope Farm, as suggested in the pre-feasibility report, would bypass the Old Airport Road's crowded intersections with Wind Tunnel Road, Suranjan Das Road, Marathahalli Bridge, Kundanahalli and beyond.

The existing purple line, even after its extension from Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield under Metro Phase 2, will not benefit areas along the Old Airport Road.

For residents of HAL, Murugeshpalya, Konena Agrahara and surrounding areas, the nearest Metro station will be in Marathahalli on the Silk Board to KR Puram Outer Ring Road (ORR) line. But Marathahalli is a good six kilometers away from HAL.

A personalised rapid transport (PRT) option like pod-taxi can never be a replacement for a mass transport Metro line, reasons urbanist V Ravichander. Others have dubbed it as more of a toy train fit only for joyrides in Nandi Hills.

Although the budget makes no mention of a line, residents along the Old Airport Road now harbor a faint hope that it could be included in the final Detailed Project Report (DPR). A section of the mobility experts working with the government on infrastructure projects, is expected to give it a push. The matter will be before Bengaluru Development Minister K J George.