Praveen Pardeshi bats for improving public bus demand

Praveen Pardeshi. File pic

Supporting the campaign to have more public transport buses, Maharashtra additional chief secretary for urban development, Praveen Pardeshi said that there was a need to improve the availability of buses for which one needed to increase their demand and not just quantity of buses.

Speaking at a webinar organised titled 'Take the Bus: A Path to Sustainable Future for Maharashtra' by Pune-based organisation Parisar for Sustainable Urban Mobility Network (SUM Net), Pardeshi said he had put in efforts to improve the bus system in Mumbai. "In Mumbai, we reduced the bus fare and improved the predictability of expected time of arrival and reaching the destination," he said.

The SUM Net India campaign, Lakh ko Pachaas emphasizes on the basic requirement of at least 50 buses per lakh of population. "An efficient, responsive city-based public transport can help citizens. However, not a single city in Maharashtra has an adequate public transport system. Out of 29 municipal corporations, less than half have city bus services," said expert Ranjit Gadgil, who anchored the conversation.

The campaign also calls for making public transport services an obligatory function for municipal corporations and create a state-level Urban Public Transport Authority responsible for oversight, setting of service-level benchmarks, technology adoption, dispute resolution and performance evaluation.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news