Adopt digital payment in public transport to prevent COVID-19, Centre tells states

The Centre has asked states to adopt digital payment systems in public transport systems, including buses and encourage a non-motorised mode of transport in public transit networks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs issued an advisory to states in the view of the pandemic that has impacted the way of life and that of local, regional and global transport systems.

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"Active utilisation of technology to curb the spread of the virus by enabling technologies such as Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), indigenous cashless and touchless system like BHIM, PhonePe, Google Pay, PayTM etc and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), will reduce human interaction, in operations of public transit systems," said the advisory issued by Urban Affairs Ministry Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra.

Recommencing public transport with greater confidence of commuter-public transport is the backbone in urban areas especially for the low/middle-income commuters for which these services are the mainstay of their daily transit needs. However, it is imperative at this stage that transmission of infection through the usage of public transport should be curbed by adopting the right sanitisation, containment and social distancing measures, the advisory said.

Also read — COVID-19: 90% fall in public transport ridership, says Urban Affairs Ministry

To prevent a resurgence of car and other private vehicle usages, many cities around the world have encouraged digital payments and are reallocating street space for cycling and pedestrians through street closures, creating non-motorised transport (NMT) priority zones, pop-up bike lanes and sidewalks, providing parking and charging equipment and financing options to make cycling more accessible, he said.

Giving some of the instances, where some of the cities quickly adopted non-motorised transport system, the advisory said New York has added 40 miles of new NMT lanes to support cyclists, Oakland, USA has closed 10% of its streets for motor vehicles, In Bogotá, Colombia has added 76 km of cycle overnight.

Also read — Creating walkable & bikeable cities in COVID-19 times

Promotion of bike-sharing in China has led to a 150% increase in trips nationwide during the lockdown.

The ministry said India has a robust 700 km of operational metro rail in 18 major cities and a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network of about 450 km operational in 11 cities carrying 10 million passengers daily.

"But due to the social distancing norms being practiced, their capacities would be utilised at 25 to 50 percent of pre-coronavirus levels. Such dramatic and dynamic changes in demand and supply will require complementing these public transport systems with alternative modes of transit," the advisory said.