KOCHI: Slashing hefty parking rates at Metro stations has bode well for Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL).
The move has evoked positive feedback from daily commuters. Following the introduction of the revised parking rates from Wednesday, several commuters began using the metro after parking their vehicles at metro stations. Though KMRL is yet to release official figures of the new commuters using the transport facility, officers in charge of parking lots confirmed to ‘Express’ several commuters have started using the metro following the roll-out of the discounted parking rates.
“The earlier rates were not affordable to common people. The high parking rates forced commuters to park their vehicles at other places sans parking fees. But today, there seemed to be a remarkable change as even ordinary commuters began using KMRL’s parking space,” said Ananda Krishnan, the parking in-charge at the Palarivattom metro station.
The parking rate for the first two hours was reduced from `30 to `25 for cars and from `15 to `10 for two-wheelers. KMRL also introduced daily parking passes at all stations except Aluva and Edappally, for `40 for two-wheelers and `80 for cars. For every extra hour, `10 will be charged for cars and `5 for two-wheelers.
For Kochi cardholders, the daily pass for cars will be `64, while for two-wheelers, it will be `32. Sundays and holidays will have different tariffs. “Earlier, parking a car for 24 hours cost nearly `250. Now they introduced affordable rates which is a huge relief for regular passengers like us who leave their vehicles at the stations before heading for our workplaces,” said Arun, a Fort Kochi resident working at Aluva.
Public awareness: Nil
On the flip side, many people are yet to be aware of the discounted parking rates, thanks to KMRL’s failure on placing signs or boards updated with the new rates. When ‘Express’ visited some of the Metro stations in the city, it was found old signs were still being exhibited at the stations, preventing many from using the services.
The high parking rates forced commuters to park their vehicles at other places sans parking fees. But today, there seemed to be a remarkable change as even ordinary commuters began using KMRL’s parking space Ananda Krishnan, parking in-charge, Palarivattom station
KMRL training for feeder auto drivers under way
Kochi: The training programme for drivers of feeder autorickshaws by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd(KMRL) in association with Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment for increasing the efficiency of the Metro’s feeder service got under way here on Thursday. Inaugurating the programme KMRL managing director Mohammed Hanish said, “We need a more organised public transport system and our aim is to have autorickshaws with mobile application facilities for booking, card swiping facilities for payment, GPS tracking for safety and Operation Control Centre for more efficiency.
We are working towards it.” The training is intended to educate the auto drivers on safe driving and public interaction. It will also provide them with basic legal awareness and behavioral training. More than 300 auto drivers will benefit from this programme. The participants are selected by the district trade union coordination committee, whose members were present on the occasion.