BENGALURU:When you get off the metro or local train and want to catch an auto or bus, how far do you have to walk? Where do you board a bus and which route do you take? These are the perpetual last mile connectivity problems that frustrates the average commuter. To solve this, United Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) is in the works and will be tabled in the State Assembly soon.
What is UMTA?
Just like Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulates the telecom sector, UMTA would control and co-ordinate between BMRCL, BMTC, Suburban Rail Special Purpose Vehicle, BBMP, DULT, Transport Department, autos, taxis and non-motorized transport.CiFOS (Citizens for Sustainability), Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and Urban Development Department (UDD) are working together to draft this body, made mandatory by the Union Government’s New Metro Rail Policy. “We had an UMTA meeting two weeks ago. Its purpose is to help multi-modal integration between different modes of transport, presently missing as every agency is working is isolation,” says Sathya Sankaran, transport expert from CiFOS.“We are looking at how to bring efficiency while switching from one mode of transport to the other. It is too late to become a legislation now and will be a reality once the next government is elected,” Sankaran says, adding that the draft will be ready by April end.
How powerful will it be?
Until recently, the concerned officials were yet to choose between making UMTA an executive body or a proper Act approved by the cabinet.Mahendra Jain, additional chief secretary of UDD tells City Express, “We had three to four templates of UMTA from the Union Government. We are making a fresh draft now, and have decided to put it through legislation and make it a proper Act, backed by the cabinet. We have taken references from Singapore’s Land Transport Authority for framing this body.”
A senior transport official says, “The body would be high-powered, at the chief minister and chief secretary level. A mere executive body would have restricted it to a suggestion committee, that is not binding on other transport agencies.”
To put it simply, with cabinet approval, UMTA would have political power, and be the boss of all other transport agencies. To name a few functions, issues such as last-mile connectivity and common mobility card factors will be addressed by UMTA. The agencies would be able to leverage each other to make travel seamless for citizens, Sankaran explains.The funding pattern of UMTA is yet to be finalised, but a corpus fund would be required to start off with, along with deciding who will constitute the body.
How will it help you?
UMTA will plan the where the metro should start and end, ensure BBMP lays a proper footpath near the metro station, synchronise BMTC’s buses to pick up metro commuters and drop them to a suburban train station and so on, ensuring proper connectivity right from one’s home to offices, schools, etc.
Examples of poor last mile connectivity
Eight metro stations on the purple line and 12 on the green line are not served by BMTC feeder buses.
Lack of access to Baiyappanahalli metro station on the Old Madras Road side.
Majestic Metro with Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna station, is connected by an unsafe and ill-maintained subway
Banshankari metro station and TTMC are near each other but unconnected. Similar issue with Jayanagar 4th block bus stand and metro station.
Lack of wide pavements surrounding bus and metro stations. For example, pavement encroached by a hotel near Sandal Soap Factory metro station.
Lack of BBMP bus bays and auto bays on Outer Ring Road.
Commercial encroachment of footpath on CMH road, near Indiranagar Metro Station