The Centre has finally recognized the importance of Suburban Rail and in this budget direction has been given to Railways to invest more in suburban rail. The Railways and State Government should take this forward to provide improve urban transport.
The state government should move quickly for suburban rail network for Bengaluru, Hubli-Dharwad and Mysuru. The Central government is also focusing on completion of ongoing Metro projects.
The push for electric vehicles by reduction in taxes and other incentives will encourage more people to buy them.
The imposition of Central Road & Infrastructure cess of Re 1 on petrol & diesel will help in improving public transport. The Government should have set focus on rolling of National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) across all Metro services in time bound manner of 24 months. Affordable & Environment friendly public transport buses for common man need to be rolled out quickly.
—The writer is a Founding member of Praja RAAG
