Will Namma Metro lure commuters?

BANGALORE: Following the announcement of launch date of Namma Metro, now the question is whether BMRCL’s metro rail project will succeed in attracting substantial number of commuters and ease the traffic congestion in the city. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRCL) recently became the first metro rail system in the world to earn carbon credits after reducing greenhouse gas emissions.“Bangalore’s Namma Metro project will ply 19 lakh commuters. It has the potential to earn carbon credits”, said Sudhir Chandra, Director, Project and Planning, BMRCL. He further explained that the first phase of the project covering a span of 42.4 km will take 15 per cent of the commuters off the roads.  The 70-km long second phase, which will take a span of two or three years for completion, will lessen 35 per cent of commuters on roads.  “Bangalore’s metro rail project has the potential to earn carbon credits. The CO2 emissions will come down because each of us has a carbon footprint and the model is one unit carrying a large number of people,” said Prof Dr T G Sitharam, Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and Urban Planning, Indian Institute of Science.However, he also emphasised that the project has to be popularised for more commuters to travel by metro. “Any form of public transport is advantageous. But what is BMRCL doing to attract commuters?” he questioned.  BMRCL claims that the energy requirement of the metro per passenger km is one-fifth of the road-based systems and the train runs on electric power. It also plans to use buses as feeders and on certain high density corridors, the use of three wheelers (autorickshaws) may be regulated.  Dr Sitharam said that the emissions can be calculated and monitored but the use of personalised vehicles needs to come down and an efficient system of inter-modal connectivity needs to be introduced.  “It is not just enough to build the metro, you need to attract people to use it and make it,” he added.