CUMTA to resolve commuting woes in Chennai

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

No more standing in queues for tickets or long wait to get home after a tiring day’s work as commuting in Chennai will soon become easier with the implementation of Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority.

Passed in 2010, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority Act is slowly getting into shape under the AIADMK regime after some key deliberations and proposed changes over the formation of the authority.

As the focus of CUMTA will be to frame an urban transport policy for the Chennai Metropolitan Area on the lines of National Urban Transport Policy, experts feel it will make mobility quicker and simpler.

Interestingly, CUMTA came into being after National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) was framed with a vision to make cities the engines of economic growth that power India’s development in the 21st century.

The Second Master Plan for the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) emphasized the need for a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) for Chennai, in its policies and strategies for setting up a unified institutional framework encompassing all modes.

The salient features of CUMTA include monitoring the implementation of various traffic and transportation measures including promoting the cause of public mass passenger transport systems and regulating their operations besides implementation of traffic and transportation infrastructure in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.

Sources said the focus is to make Chennai a world-class city particularly in the urban transportation sector through the effective functioning of CUMTA with the co-operation of the all departmental heads and heads of line agencies.

Currently, the state government has 10 different agencies, which are involved in traffic and transportation management in Chennai Metropolitan area and governed by various ministries and department. Experts felt since many agencies are involved in planning, providing operations and managing transportation system in the CMA, the role of such agencies overlap each other resulting in the need for a unified agency for proper coordination and streamlining of the activities among various agencies.

Salient features of CUMTA:

(1) The Authority shall oversee, coordinate, promote and monitor the implementation of various traffic and transportation measures including promoting the cause of public mass passenger transport systems and regulating their operations, besides implementation of certain traffic and transportation infrastructure of special nature in the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area.

(2) The Authority shall act as a coordinating authority in the areas of transport.

(3) The Authority shall take decisions on matters that would impinge on transport in the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area and oversee that no steps are initiated by any agencies or local bodies that detract from the overall efficiency of the Comprehensive Transportation Plan.