City transport should be integrated, says expert
Posted on: 30/Jun/2015 10:34:29 AM
Chennai City Connect Director Raj Cherubal has said that the Metro Rail will function best when other modes of transport are integrated with each other. �Officials should explore both physical and electronic integration of the modes of transport. Physical integration is about making sure that metro stations are easy to access by walk, taking into account road repairs. There is no point in metro stations being disabled-friendly if the disabled cannot even reach them... Electronic integration like smart cards, apart from separate tickets, for the metro and feeder services like buses will be of great help to passengers�, he said.
MTC also feels that it will only augment the Metro Rail services. �More than 500 MTC buses currently operate along the first metro stretch. Because of the number of vehicles we have there shouldn`t be any problem with the frequency of buses near metro stations... We`re not worried about buses being available for metro passengers even if it operates at a rate of a train every 10 minutes. An issue could only arise once metro rail extends to reach the length of its two proposed corridors... Most buses operate much further on the routes that metro will. Most of the metro stations are on bus routes... We cannot cut down on services as passengers will require to travel well beyond where the metro halts�, said an official.
