'Flying Buses' For Bengaluru's Traffic Chaos? What Nitin Gadkari Told NDTV

India is evaluating new modes of futuristic transport, including elevated airpod-based systems and flash-charging electric buses, to tackle traffic congestion and reduce pollution in metro cities, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in an exclusive interview with NDTV. 

Mr Gadkari, who has held the transport portfolio since 2014, spoke about the government's efforts to introduce alternative mass transit options that focus on comfort, speed, and environmental sustainability. The minister said that research is currently underway on multiple fronts, with proposals sourced from international companies and pilot projects already under consideration in cities such as Delhi and Bengaluru.

"A total of 360 proposals have been received. Now we want to concentrate on the public transport system, particularly on electricity, where there will be no pollution. So in the Delhi area, we are now already developing, we have got a lot of proposals,' Mr Gadkari told NDTV. 

"The most important problem in our country is pollution. We import fossil fuel costing Rs 22 lakh crores. The other important thing is public transport. Indian society is not giving priority to public transport. Indian society now wants comfort. Compared with luxury buses, people are preferring them," he added. 

At the core of this is the concept of aerial pod taxis or "flying buses." Contrary to the term, these are not aircraft, but driverless electric pods that operate on elevated tracks. Mr Gadkari referred to them as "double-decker bus-like pods," with each unit capable of carrying up to 135 passengers. The infrastructure would involve overhead rail systems on which the pods travel, either suspended or mounted.

"There are also many technologies from the USA, from European countries, and from Russia. We have already received 13 technology proposals. But we have to ensure that they are economically viable. The technology must be proven and economically viable because we want to offer these services at a cheaper rate. I'll give you an example. A unique transport proposal has been selected in Nagpur, my own constituency, as a pilot project,' Mr Gadkari told NDTV. 

The core innovation is the flash-charging system. Mr Gadkari explained that when the bus halts at a station, an automatic charging unit engages with the vehicle.

"We received a tender. In that proposal, there is a bus with a capacity of 135 people, an air-conditioned bus. Just like there are air hostesses, there will be bus hostesses. There will be facilities for tea, coffee, and other things. And the bus is a flash-charging bus. That flash-charging system, which comes from Hitachi and Siemens, activates when the bus stops. When the bus stops at a stop, the system activates, and within half a minute, the bus is electrically charged and can run up to 40 kilometres," Mr Gadkari told NDTV.