New Delhi: Centre is undertaking concerted initiatives to resolve ill effects of growing vehicular population in the country, said Union Urban Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu.
Addressing the Ministerial Round Table at the World Congress on ‘Towards Intelligent Mobility –Better Use of Space’ held at Bordeaux, France on Monday, Naidu gave a detailed account of the efforts being made in the country to promote Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
Attending the World Congress being organized by the French Government on the personal invitation of French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Segelone Royal during her visit to India in June this year, Naidu informed that as a result of rapid increase in urban population in the country, vehicle fleet has grown at 9% per year during the last decade, resulting in congestion, increase in travel time, air pollution and carbon emissions, particularly, in urban areas. He said that the Government is focusing on introduction of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for traffic management and technological improvements in urban transport sector to reduce carbon emissions and pollution.
Referring to ITS Project being implemented in Mysore, Naidu informed that it resulted in 23% reduction in accidents, 15% increase in ridership, reduction in requirement of 32 buses and reduction in carbon emissions by 6,000 tonnes per year. Similarly, ITS Project of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority has resulted in improving travel speeds on various corridors by 14%, reduction in accidents by 19%, decline in energy consumption by 30%, saving of fuel by 1.8 million litres and decline in carbon emissions by 4,500 tonnes per year.
He also lauded the “Mumbai dabbawallahs” with 6 sigma quality using cycles for distributing lunch boxes in an environment friendly manner.
He informed that a Common Mobility Card which is EMV (Euro, Mater and Visa) based open loop card with a stored value specification was introduced recently and such a model has already been incorporated by Kochi Metro.
Ministry of Urban Development has provided financial assistance for procuring 25,000 buses in over 170 cities and these buses are pre-equipped with ITS features like GPS, passenger information system and CCTV cameras which improve travel experience of commuters, he said.
Naidu informed that the Smart City Mission seeks to promote citizen centric transport systems and application of ITS.
The Ministers from over 30 countries had attended the Round Table yesterday.
