‘BMLTA is fine but more data-driven, scientific-based decisions required, not top down

Rachana Ramesh | NT

Bengaluru: The much-awaited BMLTA (Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority) Bill was passed by the Karnataka Assembly only a few days before the New Year and is being lauded as the way forward to solve all the transportation woes accumulated in the city.

The passing has received several mixed responses from those who have been prominent figures in the field of transport. BMLTA will be a unified agency responsible for all policy decisions regarding urban mobility, with the chief minister as its ex-officio chairperson and the Bengaluru development and transport minister as its exofficio vice-chairpersons.

“The principles for the authority and the desired outputs are all good. However, how much the authority implements it matters,” said Dr Ashish Verma, mobility expert at Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He urged the authorities to emphasise the need for datadriven and scientific-based decisions rather than decisions being taken in a top-down manner.

“The city has witnessed almost two decades of road infrastructure interventions without seeing any tangible improvements. We are still among the list of top congested cities in the world,” he noted and said that the focus must lie on sustainability instead of short-term fixes. Dr Verma pressed for a “fresh look” at the strategic mobility plan. The pandemic has changed where people used to live and how they travel to work and function daily.

“A lot has changed, especially since many IT companies are still offering the h y b r i d work mode. It is also quite visible in terms of the traffic patterns that have changed in the city-certain corridors where traffic was extreme, the origin destinations and even the days on which significant traffic has changed,” he said.

Keeping in consideration the changes which the pandemic has brought us, which may not revert, he urged the authorities to do away with pre-covid data and start new. The Bengaluru Navanirmana Party (BNP) initiated an online campaign urging the CM to pass the bill, which had received over 2434 signatures.

Vishnu Reddy, a BNP member from the Bellandur Ward, said “Infamous traffic jams, lack of last-mile connectivity, and absence of integrated ticketing are welldocumented gaps. Still, none of the existing institutions has the inclination or the accountability to solve these issues. BMLTA, with the necessary statutory backing, is urgently required to ensure planning and service coordination amongst urban transport providers.”

However, Vinay Sreenivasa from the Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) has opposed the move and said that the BMLTA would be another statecontrolled agency.

He has pointed out that the Bill was passed without public consultation and in the absence of an elected BBMP council. While the city roads fall under the control of BBMP, the BMTC falls under the transport department and the metro trains are taken care of by the Urban Development Department.

There is a clear need for coordination among all these agencies, however, the hurried passing of the Bill in the absence of an elected BBMP council undermines the power of urban local bodies who have the power to make decisions, he has said.