KMRL inks pact on feeder services with private bus operators
Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) inked a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) with the seven companies operating 1,000 private buses in Kochi and another firm to jointly promote public transport in the Greater Kochi area and to develop and deploy electric vehicles (EV) to operate feeder services.
KMRL Director (Projects) Thiruman Archunan signed the JDI in the presence of new Managing Director A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish and outgoing MD Elias George. The pact for electric vehicles was inked with Vinsca Electric Vehicles Pvt Limited.
The project for ‘seamless integration of public transportation modes in Kochi’ was initiated by KMRL in 2013 to bring together the fragmented and competing modes of public transport under one umbrella and to restructure them, so that all low-capacity transit systems could act as a large single network. This in turn can act as a feeder to the metro and other mass transit systems, boosting urban mobility.
As part of the initiative, KMRL intends to integrate city bus operations in the urban mobility area by readying integrated bus timetable, GPS-based bus tracking and bus journey planner, passenger information system at bus stops and terminals, operations control centre (OCC), common smart-card ticketing, and depot facilities. It also aims at promoting electric buses as an ultimate choice of public transport and CNG buses as an interim measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative also envisions a well-organised autorickshaw network as a feeder system to public transport systems like metro, bus services, water metro, and other mass transport networks, offering first and last-mile connectivity.
Efficient services
Bus companies have rallied under the Co-ordination Committee of Private Bus Operating Companies (CBOC), formed to offer an efficient, passenger-friendly, economical and coordinated public transport system to the people of Kochi through fleet-based operations. The aim is to encourage commuters to shift from cars and two-wheelers to the public transport network.
Vinsca is jointly promoted by Sibi Mathai, managing director of Vista Driveline Motors, Kochi, the dealer for Volvo buses and trucks for Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sandith Thandasherry, chief executive officer, Navgathi Marine Design and Constructions Pvt Ltd., Kochi, who designed and built the first solar-powered passenger ferry in the country.
Vinsca intends to develop and deploy electric autorickshaws and vans as feeders to mass public transportation systems. This will be done either through retrofitting or as an original equipment assembler (OEA) to develop, deploy and promote electric vehicles (EV) under its brand ‘Commute Green’. The JDI is a non-binding, non-commercial arrangement between the two parties to co-facilitate the implementation of the project to seamlessly integrate transportation modes in the city.
