Transport for London appointed to prepare Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Chennai

Chennai, India (Urban Transport News): Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has appointed Transport for London (TfL), a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, for preparation of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, Integrated Ticketing and Digital Payment Solutions for Chennai. CUMTA is planning to introduce a contactless card along the lines of the Oyster Card, which is used to pay for public transport in London.

“TFL will help prepare the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, integrated ticketing and digital Chennai, where all the plans of agencies working in the mobility sector would be amalgamated. We are looking at various options,” said I Jaykumar, Special Officer, CUMTA.

“What CUMTA is looking at is an open loop card which will be a co-branded card with any banking partner. It can be used as a debit card. CUMTA is also awaiting clearance from the Railway Board. “Indian Railways has to take a policy decision since finance and technical sharing of data is involved,” he added.

The TfL team has visited Chennai last week and CUMTA has shared all details with them in respect to appointing TfL as a transaction advisor. “Once they give us suggestions, we will float a tender next week,” he said.

On the partnership with TfL, Jayakumar said for the first three months, TFL will provide inputs for fine tuning CMP tender. Then for the next 18 to 24 months, they will assist in preparing the revised comprehensive mobility plan. Besides, it will also help in setting up a digital Chennai platform, where all the data and plans of stakeholders will be stored.

CUMTA will be responsible for the coordination and streamlining of the implementation of CMP proposals through city agencies. It is thus essential that CMP recommendations are sufficiently deliberated and consulted with the various stakeholders including the people of Chennai. The CMP should also include a review of climate adaptation requirements for the system to operate effectively.