Surat bags top award for converting private vehicle users into bus commuters

The Surat Municipal Corporation has been chosen for the ‘Best City Bus Services Award’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for succeeding in attracting 87 percent of private vehicle and auto rickshaw users to use city buses.

The awards for the ‘Best Urban Transport Practices’ were announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs today on the concluding day of the three-day Urban Mobility Conference at Hyderabad.

Surat city with a population of about 4.5 million 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 on 28 routes with fares ranging from a minimum of Rs 4 to a maximum of Rs 22. With 95 percent of arrivals and departures on time, 87 percent of those using private vehicles and auto rickshaws have now shifted to city buses, thereby minimising environmental and social adversity issues. Single ticketing system, integration of city buses with feeder systems, and Intelligent Transit Management are in place.

Meanwhile, Mysore’s Public Bicycle Sharing has won the ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport’ Award. Launched in June this year with 425 bicycles and 45 docking stations, more than 6,400 members have been registered till last month. Fares are as low as Rs 5 for up to two hours of use and has resulted in improved last mile connectivity besides converting short distance vehicular trips to  cycle trips, which are eco-friendly.

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.

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.

Hyderabad has about 3.9 million registered vehicles on its roads with 600 more added every day and vehicle density of 723/km, the second highest in the country but traffic management was being done with a 20-year-old signal network which did not function if power supply stopped. H-TRIMS was introduced in 2012 to provide round the clock, no break in service signalling at all the 221 junctions and remotely controlled. H-TRIMS also  enables automatic adjustment of signal timings based on traffic flows, pedestrian controlled signals and SMS-based alerts to the citizens. This initiative brought down waiting time at traffic junctions by over 33 percent.  Pune has won the Best Performer Award in the same category.

Chittore in Andhra Pradesh, the district headquarters has won the ‘Commendable Initiative’ Award for the initiative of the City Police aimed at  reducing the accidents and fatalities. Under this Education, Engineering and Enforcement initiative, Community Police Officers and students are roped in for creating awareness about road accidents and measures to be taken to prevent the same. Over 176,000 drivers and riders have been administered oath, speedbreakers and rumble strips erected to regulate speeds and 259 road side villages have been sensitised. Chittore police introduced ‘no helmet-no petrol’ policy for two wheelers. Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,   has won the Best Performer Award in this category.

Other award winners are:

Madhya Pradesh: Commendable Urban Mass Transit Initiative for implementing Cluster Based Bus Transit System

Bhopal: Commendable Initiative for introducing Public Bicycle Sharing  

Noida and Greater Noida: Commendable City Bus Service Project initiative

Andaman: Commendable Initiative for introducing Special Bus Services for women

Lucknow  Metro Rail Project: Commendable Urban Mass Transit Initiative