Kochi celebrates Public Transport day, raise awareness in Public

Kochi/Urban Transport News: On Friday to create awareness on public transport in an effort to encourage the people of Kochi to take public transport, the Centre for Public Policy and Research (CPPR) will kick start a year-long drive. Due to the devastating floods in the state the campaign, which was set to take off earlier, was put on hold for a month. For the developing city, the transport Commissioner K Padmakumar IPS will oversee that buses and metro routes are well-connected and more efficient.

He will be also taking different modes of public transport to get a firsthand experience of the public transport system and to better plan routes accordingly. Earlier, the state government had announced that Fridays would be observed as Public Transport Day, in an effort to encourage people to use the public transport available to them. On May 4^th the campaign was launched.

Including the District Collector, were approached and requested to take the metro city’s public transport to and from work for the day as part of the campaign.  The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) officials had previously stated that they have already planned to introduce a journey planner to allow the public to better plan their commute. Apart from this furthermore, around 600 private buses had been also installed with GPS systems and more were planned at the time to improve public transport systems.

The KMRL had also planning to design and launch an app-based ride service for auto rickshaws. Around 300 auto drivers will be attached to 16 metro stations. On Thursday the residents will meet officials at the Panchayat Hall in Cheranallur on to discuss their views on the proposed new routes The main motive behind this initiative was the brainchild of the Centre for Public Policy and Research (CPPR), based in Kochi which works to improve aspects of public life.