To tackle mobility woes, experts suggest opening up public transport to private partnership in Bengaluru

Walking and cycling were the preferred modes of transport to work for most of the experts at a workshop called to brainstorm measures to improve mobility in the city.

Ajay Seth, Managing Director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, at the workshop on Thursday, said the road users should pay for using the resource for the benefit of the city.

“For mobility, road is the most precious resource. We should pool data from various sources to put a price on the usage of this resource by private people, except by pedestrians and cyclists. Use a road, pay a price for it. Then it makes a win for the city,” he said.

Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, drawing from his experience of being the transport commissioner in the past and also working at the KSRTC, suggested having more private buses.

“I would like to focus on public transport, last-mile connectivity and electric vehicles. Apart from the BMTC and BMRCL, no private operator can operate according to the rules. They have a monopoly,” Rao said.

“Now with the population touching 1.4 crore, we need support for last-mile connectivity. Public transport has to be subsidised else the cost of travel won’t come down. It is cheaper to travel by a private vehicle than the BMTC or BMRCL. We have to open up the private partnership in public transport,” he said.

The Urban Mobility Lab, a multi-stakeholder workshop, was conducted to develop mobility solutions, in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Institute and Micelio in partnership with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Invest Karnataka Forum, and Department of Industries and Commerce.

The two-day workshop, which began on February 19, saw a culmination of over 150 participants from the mobility ecosystem. It was conducted around six thematic areas – charging and battery swapping infrastructure, data-based solutions, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, first and last-mile connectivity, public transit, and urban last-mile delivery.

V Ponnuraj, Commissioner, Directorate of Urban Land Transport, said: “Who gets right of way? Vehicles or people? ...Why do people travel? Sixty per cent of travel happens because of work. We should promote ecosystem where less travel can happen because of work.”

The other panellists at the workshop included Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South Lok Sabha Constituency; Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Transport and Commerce and Industries; and C Shikha, BMTC Managing Director.