NEW DELHI: Mysuru’s Public Bicycle Sharing has won the ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport’ Award while Kochi (Kerala) has been chosen for the ‘Best Urban Transport Initiative’ Award for completing its Metro Rail Project in a quick time besides integrating the metro with other modes of transport. Similarly, Surat Municipal Corporation has been chosen for the ‘Best City Bus Services Award’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the Urban Mobility conference held in Hyderabad.
The Awards for the ‘Best Urban Transport Practices’ were announced by the ministry on the concluding day of the three day Urban Mobility Conference where H-TRIMS of Hyderabad, the Traffic Integraged Management initiative has been chosen for the ‘Commendable Initiative Award’ under ‘Best Intelligent Transport Project’ category. Chittor has been chosen for the ‘Commendable Initiative Award’ for the city police’s initiative for improving road safety.
Officials said that the tourism city of Mysure launched its Public Bicycle Sharing in June this year with 425 bicycles and 45 docking stations and over 6,400 members have been registered till last month. It has resulted in improved last mile connectivity besides converting short distance vehicular trips to cycle trips, which are eco-friendly.
Similarly, fastest constructed Metro Rail Project of Kochi has been chosen as the ‘Best City in Urban Transport Initiative’ category for its innovative features including implementation in integration with Water Transport. Kochi Metro also introduced ‘Rupay’ based transit card.
Surat city with a population of about 45 lakhs was heavily dependent on three wheelers and private vehicles till 2014 when Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) and city buses were made operational. At present, 275 city buses are operational in the city and 87% of those using private vehicles and auto rickshaws have now shifted to city buses minimizing environmental and social adversity issues.
In Hyderabad, having over 39 lakhs registered vehicles, H-TRIMS was introduced in 2012 to provide round the clock, no break in service signalling at all the 221 junctions and remotely controlled. This initiative brought down waiting time at traffic junctions by over 33%.