
KOCHI: Kochi Water Metro Ltd (KWML) expects a major boost in ridership on the Vyttila-Kakkanad section with the deployment of three e-feeder buses, providing last-mile connectivity to Infopark and Collectorate from Kakkanad Water Metro terminal next week.
To tap the full potential, the ‘Metro Connect’ buses operating on the Chittattukara-Infopark and Chittattukara-Collectorate routes will link each and every boat service arriving at the terminal, even as KWML is set to increase the frequency of boat services from Monday.
“While the e-feeder buses will be operational on Aluva-Airport and Kalamassery-Medical College routes from Thursday onwards, the vehicles will be deployed in the Kakkanad sections from next week. We’ll increase the frequency of the services from Monday, thereby reducing the wait time between boats to 20 minutes during peak hours. We will lower this further to 15 minutes in another three months when construction of a second pontoon at Vyttila terminal is completed,” said Sajan P John, COO, KWML.
Currently, wait times on the sector are 25 minutes during peak hours and 30-35 minutes during non-peak times. While the original plan was to construct three pontoons, only one has so far been set up. The same has rendered it difficult to increase the frequency of services. A total of four boats, including one spare one, are deployed in the sector.
The water metro operates on five routes — High Court-Fort Kochi, HC-Vypeen, HC-South Chittoor, South Chittoor-Cheranalloor, and Vyttila-Kakkanad, which sees the most daily commuters. “It’s mainly tourists who take the other routes. But daily commuters, including residents and Infopark employees, travel in boats operating on the Vyttila-Kakkanad section. We expect a substantial rise in ridership with the deployment of e-feeder buses, probably from next week,” the official said.
While ridership remained more or less the same in the first year of operation, it has seen a gradual rise in recent months. “Daily ridership on the Vyttila-Kakkanad sector now averages 1,500, against our long-term goal of 2,500. Average daily ridership in December was 7,700, which is very encouraging,” the official noted.
Water metro authorities say a substantial increase in daily commuters would contribute to decongesting roads and solve the acute parking problems on Infopark campus.
A metro boat takes just 25 minutes to cover the section. While a ticket is priced at Rs 40, those availing monthly pass can travel cheaper -- at Rs 12 per trip.
“The feeder-bus operation has been our long-term demand. We’ll now give publicity to the water metro services and urge employees to use the eco-friendly mode of transport,” said Anish Panthalani, co-founder of Progressive Techies, a socio-cultural organisation of software employees.
Meanwhile, the ‘Metro Connect’ buses started regular operation on the Aluva-Airport, Kalamassery-Medical College and Kalamassery-Cusat routes from Thursday. The services are a hit, especially in the airport section, where 1,345 commuters used the facility, while 510 people travelled on the Kalamassery route on the inaugural day.
A total of four buses have been deployed in the airport sector, replacing the private feeder buses, while two are conducting services on the Kalamassery routes. The ticket fare is Rs 80 for the airport feeder services and Rs 20 for a five-km distance travel in other routes. In the airport route, the buses are available at a frequency of 20 minutes during peak hours and half an hour during non-peak hours. The services will start from Aluva at 6.45 am and the last trip from airport to Aluva is at 11 pm.
“We will deploy buses in the High Court-MG Road circular, Kadavanthra-KP Vallon Road circular, Kakkanad Water Metro terminal-Infopark-Kinfra Park and Kakkanad Water Metro terminal-collectorate routes in a phased manner soon,” a Metro spokesperson said.