Seven Point Action Plan for the Public Transport in the Indian Cities

A seven point action plan was announced by Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), the pollution monitoring arm of the Supreme Court, on February 6th, 2009, for the public transport in the Indian Cities.

The cities are Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Bangalore (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Kanpur and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Pune and Sholapur (Maharashtra).

The agenda requests the cities to

• devise a strategy for bus ownership and management in the city, based on current best practices and feasible options;
• understand the costs associated with bus management and options for financing and management, including fiscal reforms;
• examine the possibility of dedicated and or demarcated bus lanes in the city;
• understand the availability and costs of urban buses in the country, so that decisions can be facilitated;
• devise an advertisement policy;
• devise a parking policy;
• devise a funding mechanism for public transport.

Also see the 2008 report by the Ministry of Urban Development on Transport Policies and Strategies for Urban India.