File Photo: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said that government is undertaking concerted initiatives to contain ill effects of growing vehicular population in the country.
Addressing the Ministerial Round Table at the World Congress on 'Towards Intelligent Mobility-Better Use of Space' at Bordeaux in France, Mr Naidu informed that as a result of rapid increase in urban population in the country, vehicle fleet has grown at the rate of 9 per cent per year during the last decade.
He also gave a detailed account of the efforts being made in the country to promote Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
The government is focusing on introduction of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for traffic management and technological improvements in urban transport sector to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, he said.
Referring to ITS Project being implemented in Mysore, Mr Naidu informed that it resulted in 23 per cent reduction in accidents, 15 per cent increase in ridership, reduction in requirement of 32 buses and reduction in carbon emissions by 6,000 tonnes per year.
Similarly, ITS Project of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority has resulted in improving travel speeds on various corridors by 14 per cent, reduction in accidents by 19 per cent, decline in energy consumption by 30 per cent, saving of fuel by 1.8 million litres and decline in carbon emissions by 4,500 tonnes per year.
He also lauded the "Mumbai dabbawallahs" with 6 sigma quality using cycles for distributing lunch boxes in an environment friendly manner.
Ministry of Urban Development has provided financial assistance for procuring 25,000 buses in over 170 cities and these buses are pre-equipped with ITS features like GPS, passenger information system and CCTV cameras which improve travel experience of commuters.
Mr Naidu informed that the Smart City Mission seeks to promote citizen centric transport systems and application of ITS.