Trinity Circle, Whitefield to be linked by pod-taxis

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has floated tenders for the city's futuristic pod-taxi project.

For the first phase, BBMP has identified a stretch of 30.5 km from the Trinity Metro station to Whitefield.

The authorities estimate it to cost Rs 50 crore a km. The total cost of the project is about Rs 2,000 crore, they said.

N Manjunath Prasad, BBMP commissioner, is confident the project will provide last-mile connectivity to Metro services. The pod taxi network will act as a feeder to the Metro and connect Trinity and Baiyappanahalli stations, besides the proposed Visvesvaraya Industrial Park and Ujwala Vidyalaya station, he said.

Work trials begin in Indiranagar and Whitefield.

After weighing the pros and cons, the BBMP will take the project to other parts of the city, he said.

Pillars for the pod taxis will be built on road medians.

PPP model: The project will be taken up under the private-public partnership model.

The initial technical bidders are Ultra Fairwood Green Transport (Singapore), and JPods Inc and Sky Tran Asia (both from USA).

12 stations: There will be 12 stations along the stretch between the Trinity Metro station and Whitefield: Agram, Domlur, Hotel Leela Palace, BEML, HAL Airport, Ferns City (Marathahalli), Gandhi Nagar, Brookefield, Parimala Sunridge, Nallurahalli, Virginia Mall.

Clean energy: The BBMP is considering solar energy to run pod taxis.

"That makes the project environment-friendly,"  Prasad said.