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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is for optimising the existing resources in transportation as part of steps to develop a more holistic, integrated and strategic transport system to respond more effectively to the transport needs and complexities.
The extraordinary growth in traffic and different modes of transportation with increasing demand for movement, both within the cities and across the State, and the rapid development taking place in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode have given rise to this inherent need.
The government is looking to optimise the existing resources to improve the services by enhancing the quality of the modes of transportation currently in use and introducing better inland water and coastal water transportation to exploit the State's enormous resources. Integrating all the modes of transportation so as to make the best use of the routes available and thereby reducing the total travel distance is also being actively considered.
As part of this initiative, the Public Works Department has mandated Mumbai-based Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India under the ongoing World Bank-aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) to carry out a study to identify viable, realistic options for the State to bring about change in policies, strategies and/or institutional arrangements over the next one to five years.
“The study has commenced and the report will be due in October this year after the final stake-holder workshop. The thrust is on developing a multi-modal transport system in the State and how to offer the public a seamless travel,” KSTP Project Director Sanjeev Kaushik said.
It has been found that mass transportation operates in isolation in the State and that the individual trips of those using the modes are not optimised and that it results in excessive journey time and extremely inconvenient transfers between the train, bus and ferry. The growth of personalised modes of transport, especially the two-wheeler, is linked to all the inadequacies in the mass transport system. The impact of this on the overall transportation system of the State is also undesirable with related problems like traffic congestion, parking problems, pollution and enormous loss of man hours.
A note prepared by Deloitte has pointed out that only spatial integration is provided by the road network and an overarching policy on transport is needed for the State as a whole. It should comprise individual policies for various modes of transport and ensure that there is a complete recognition of the role of each mode in the overall transport policy where they will have a complementary role to play for the delivery of efficient transportation. These will have to be transferred vertically down through various agencies
It has been found that the current framework, evolved along relatively traditional lines, is more inclined towards separate administration of the individual transport modes and their physical needs that are no longer closely attuned to the real circumstances.
The lack of a strong coordinating mechanism for urban transport planning and management is a ‘key gap' in the current institutional framework.
by S. Anil Radhakrishnan
Courtesy : THE HINDU (31/07/2010)
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