No plan to ban small cars to ease traffic woes

Friday, October 24, 2008
http://www.indianexpress.com

Government on Thursday ruled out banning small cars to ease traffic problem in big cities and said it was instead focussing on augmenting the public transport system.
"I don't think I can do that," Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy responded to Manohar Joshi's (Shiv Sena) query during Question Hour if the Government will consider banning small cars to ease traffic congestions in cities like Mumbai.

"We are (instead) trying to lay emphasis on public transport system," Reddy said adding Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) had already been sanctioned in 10 cities besides Metro Rail projects.

To encourage greater use of public transport and non-motorised mode of transport, BRTS projects in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Pune/Pimpri-Chinchwad, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam and Jaipur have been approved.

Central Government was providing assistance for Delhi Metro Rail project and same model assistance was being provided or proposed to be provided for Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai Metro.
Assistance for Hyderabad and Mumbai Metro is being provided or proposed to be provided as Viability Gap Funding, he said.

Urban transport, he said, was primarily a state subject but the Central Government was extending assistance to states under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Nine pilgrim towns with less than one million population have been included in the list of mission cities where the Centre was funding projects to ease urban traffic congestion, he said.