Pune: Non motorised transport gets a boost

The World Bank (WB) sanctioned a grant of Rs 8 crore for a cycle system and other forms of non-motorised transport.A delegation of WB officials held a meeting with officials from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).“The bank has sanctioned a grant for two projects. Rs 40 lakh will go towards the PMPML project and Rs 8 crore will be given for the development of non-motorised transport (NMT) in the city,” municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said. When asked how the funds would be utilised, Pardeshi said that a detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared to find a way to create more cycling space in the city as well as improve other means of NMT.“Cycling tracks are mandatory on all Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) routes in the city. However, it is also important to implement them as feeder services and have safe crossings for cyclists at junctions. Therefore, a DPR will be prepared and the pilot money of Rs 8 crore will be used to implement that,” Pardeshi said. "It is going to be a baseline performance project to take up NMT systems in the city on a larger scale. While BRT routes will have cycletracks and footpaths, the plan is to equip roads connected to the main BRT routes with safety arrangements.Any person who leaves home for work should be able to travel to walk or cycle to a BRT terminus and then use the BRT for further travel. We will soon be submitting a DPR in order to implement this,” Kharwadkar said. In order to encourage cycling amongst citizens as well as civic officials, Pardeshi, had three months ago started a ‘No-vehicle Day’ in the PMC.