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Bangalore Transportation Summit, 10-11 September 2008

Submitted by BMLTA on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 01:17

The 2-day Bangalore Transportation Summit organised by BMLTA and Transinnova took place on 10-11th September at Windsor Manor, Bangalore. The Summit brought in several experts from India and US to address the critical transportation challenges faced by Bangalore. The Summit aimed at Evolving Strategies towards Sustainable Transportation .

The Technical Sessions focussed on best practices in the core areas that are the buildings blocks of sustainable transportation systems:

  1. Institutional Framework and Policy will focus on citywide transportation policy with supporting institutional mechanisms; and public private partnerships
  2. Integrated Transit Planning will focus on integrated multi-modal & transit systems with emphasis on pedestrian access
  3. Traffic and Transportation Management Operations will focus on use of new technology for managing traffic and transportation systems
  4. Demand Management and Measures for City Decongestion

The Bangalore Transportation Summit was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister for Transport, Sh. R. Ashoka. The Minister congratulated the organisers for taking up the initiative to organise the summit that will address relevant and current issues in transport in Bangalore. The Minister noted the critical challenges faced by the city in the realm of urban transport and public commuting. He observed that the Government of Karnataka was among the first states to respond to the recommendations made in the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) for setting up a unified metropolitan transport authority (UMTA). Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) was created as the UMTA to coordinate all land transport matters in Bangalore Metropolitan Region, the aegis under which this summit is taking shape. The Minister informed that the State was formulating an Urban Transport Policy. He expressed optimism that the Government is taking various measures in countering the numerous challenges the city faced.

The Key Note Address was delivered by Sh. Sudhakar Rao, Chief Secretary, GoK who noted that as the Chairman of BMLTA he is keenly looking forward to strengthening the existing technical team of experts at BMLTA, fostering an environment for sharing between the various agencies with regard to information and best practices in transportation. He also mentioned that there was a need to focus on standardisation and use of new technology to support planning.

Dr. David Faria, CEO, Technology Solutions Providers, who are also the co-organisers for the event noted the need for bringing in the best for addressing the transportation challenges in Bangalore. From the US delegation, Ms. Constance Sorrell noted the kind of challenges Virginia State in the US faced and the multitude of solutions they have arrived at. She was leading the US delegation and introduced the other experts in her delegation who were very keen in understanding the problems in Bangalore and customising the solutions appropriately.

The session on Policy and Institutional Framework was chaired by Dr. A Ravindra who observed that the challenge before the Government was to empower BMLTA through legislation and accepting the recommendations of Kasturirangan Committee Report. Mr. Steve Lockwood from the US delegation noted about the performance measures borrowed from IT companies for institutional framework of Transport sector. Later Mr. Gaurav Gupta, Commissioner, DULT and Member Convener, BMLTA gave an overview of the functions activities undertaken by the BMLTA especially the implementation of CTTP. The other innovative projects the BMLTA was undertaking were drafting Parking and Pedestrian Policies, certain rapid appraisal studies, demand management measures and promoting non-motorised transport.

Sh. Aravind Jadhav, Principal Secretary for Infrastructure Development Department, GoK gave an overview of the state’s infrastructure policy and cautioned about venturing into PPP for all sectors as it has both advantages and disadvantages. Dr. S. Subramanya, Commissioner, BBMP gave an overview of the Parking and Pedestrian Policy in the pipeline. He also mentioned about the 1.5 m exclusive bicycle tracks which they are proposing in certain select stretches.

The first day deliberations also saw several experts and senior bureaucrats notably Dr. A. Ravindra, Sh. Jothiramalingam, Sh. Arvind Jadhav, Dr. S. Subramanya, Sh. Jawaid Akthar, Sh. Gaurav Gupta, Prof. H. M. Shivananda Swamy and Sh. D. Sanyal. The participation in the Summit was mostly by officers from the concerned civic agencies and representatives from certain NGOs like BCIC, FKCCI, Praja.in, and a few consultants.

On the second day of the summit, Sh. Gaurav Gupta, Member Convener, BMLTA chaired the session on Traffic and Transportation Management and delivered the opening remarks. This was followed by a presentation by Sh. Marthand Nookala on Operations and Technology Applications. The key speakers in this session were: Mr. Praveen Sood, Dr. Ashwin Mahesh, Sh. Syed Zameer Pasha and Prof. M. N. Sri Hari. Sh. Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) gave an overview of the technology inputs being derived for Traffic Management by the establishment of Traffic Management Centre fed by live video feeds from almost 40 junctions monitoring the traffic flow. Dr. Ashwin Mahesh, Centre for Public Policy, IIMB and CEO, Mapunity gave an elaborate presentation on the key aspects of infrastructure needed for managing transport through information and management systems. This was followed by a presentation by Sh. Gaurav Gupta on the Integrated Multimodal Transit Systems observing that the very logo of BMLTA embodied the integration of different modes of transport. He subsequently also presented on the Technological Interventions initiated by KSRTC for enhancing Customer Centricity in Public Transport. Sh. Syed Zameer Pasha, MD, BMTC who then spoke noted the strides made by BMTC towards offering better services while ensuring profitability in operations. The last one was by Prof. M. N. Sri Hari who gave a presentation on Demand Management and Measures to Reduce Congestion.

In the post lunch wrap-up session, the panellists and experts devoted on summing up the findings and challenges faced by Bangalore. Ms. Connie Sorrell during the press conference observed that Bangalore did not lack neither the technical capacity nor the technologies to deal with Transport and Traffic Management, but it lacks adequate institutional and policy framework for addressing them.

The Concluding Session was presided by Dr. M. Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. In his presidential address Dr. Ramachandran observed that both the NUTP and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) took shape during 2006. He noted that while NUTP provided a guideline for driving the future of urban transport, the JnNURM facilitated a mechanism for funding the projects as envisioned in the NUTP. He further elaborated the various initiatives taken by the Centre and several state agencies towards implementing the recommendations made in the NUTP. He appreciated the efforts made in Bangalore by the State Government towards the creation of BMLTA and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). However, he noted that the statutory basis for the BMLTA would prove beneficial in realising the goals of NUTP. Sh. Gaurav Gupta in the concluding remarks thanked all the participants – mostly government officials, invited panellists and experts who deliberated during the 2-day summit.

The presentations made by the Panelists during the Technical Sessions are made available below.

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The details of the schedule are available here.

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