more-in Select bus stations in Kerala will be upgraded as ‘busports’ that have infrastructure on par with airports, to woo people to use public transport. Similarly, plans were afoot to launch a native online taxi/autorickshaw service in the State by August, K.R. Jyothilal, Principal Secretary, Transport, announced here on Thursday. Elaborating on the ‘busport’ concept, Mr. Jyothilal said that PricewaterhouseCoopers had been asked to prepare a DPR for readying Kerala’s first such facility in Kochi. This would be operated on public-private partnership (PPP) basis for proper upkeep. The amenities would include a proper waiting area, eateries, well-maintained toilets, etc., he said, after Kochi Metro Rail Limited and Axis Bank inked an agreement with seven private bus companies that together operate 1,100 buses in Greater Kochi area. The pact was to extend Kochi metro’s Kochi-1 prepaid inter-modal card to the buses as well. The buses would be brought under the system by November, while efforts were under way to bring KSRTC buses that operate in the region too under its purview. A software was being readied to enable ‘cashless’ travel using the card in autorickshaws too, he said. Electric vehicle policy He further said that a draft electric vehicle policy would be unveiled shortly, to bring about mobility that leaves the least carbon footprint. Thus, electric vehicles could transport air commuters from places like Cochin International Airport to the city. Referring to increasing operational expenses of buses, he said one way to substantially lessen the expenses was by introducing conductor-less buses, by relying on such prepaid transit cards. “The KSRTC’s staff strength per bus is double the national average. This has to come down. Yet another method planned is to introduce vehicle-tracking system, whereby operation of buses can be monitored, thus increasing the quality of services and also reigning in operational cost.” Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran expressed shock at the number of vehicles registered in Kerala crossing the 1 crore mark, primarily due to proliferation of private vehicles. The resultant chaos and snarls caused the death of 4,500 people in accidents on the State’s roads. “Even wars do not see such high fatalities,” he said and sought public cooperation to rely more on public transport.

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