CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is now going to head the body that will be responsible for Chennai's transport planning. The state government on Wednesday amended the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Act replacing the transport minister with the Chief Minister as the chairman.
This body, the law for which was passed last year, will monitor the implementation of various traffic and transportation measures to promote mass passenger transport systems.
Similarly, the Housing and Urban Development Minister has been made the vice-chairman of CUMTA. The transport minister, who was initially termed as Chairman of the authority prior to the amendment, is now an ex-officio member along with the Chief Secretary and vice-chairman of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.
It is learnt that making the Chief Minister the Chairman of CUMTA will help in better coordination among the departments. "The CUMTA has been amended to make it more vibrant with the highest level of participation among all sectors under a single umbrella," stated the Bill which was passed on Wednesday.
Currently, a staggering 10 different agencies are involved in traffic and transportation management in the Chennai metropolitan area. These agencies are governed by various ministries and departments. CUMTA would be the sole body to monitor the implementation of various traffic and transportation measures, including promoting the cause of mass passenger transport systems and regulating their operations, besides implementation of traffic and transportation infrastructure in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman, manager, transport systems, ITDP India, said that the amendment can be called CUMTA 2.0. "This will definitely strengthen the spine of CUMTA and help in aligning all departments to work together towards Chennai’s mobility needs," he added.
The amendment could give a new lease of life to CUMTA, which was implemented last year after being put in cold storage for the last eight years after it received the Governor's assent. This would ensure seamless travel on Chennai's public transport systems for the city's commuters. The amendment also comes as CMDA is seeking a consultant to finalise Chennai’s Comprehensive Mobility Plan, a transport roadmap for Chennai till 2048, with a proposed investment plan of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
The CMP has drawn up the transport roadmap for Chennai for 2048 including a transport investment programme containing short, medium and long term projects. The impact of the proposals is expected to increase public transport mode share and reduce pollution when compared to the business as usual scenario in 2048.
The short term proposals include footpaths, cycle tracks, junction improvements, electric buses, standard buses, pedestrian malls, area traffic control centres, smart signals and grade separators, while the medium term proposals include road over bridges, multi-modal transit hubs and bus terminals.
The long term proposals include satellite town ring roads, truck terminals, bus-based transit system, rail-based underground and elevated systems. However, to activate these, CUMTA has to be restructured.
Interestingly, the amendment to CUMTA happened as the state was holding discussions with the World Bank under the Urban Mobility Mission as part of the Chennai City partnership programme.