The Bengaluru metro rail project is on track to complete 175 km of commute by June 2025, a top official said. Addressing a session on the 'future of mobility' at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022 on Friday, November 18, Anjum Parwez, Managing Director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), said that as part of the second and third phase of the project, Bengaluru will have 314 km of metro rail connectivity by 2041. He said construction of metro lines is also progressing well on the airport side. He said the biggest challenge in urban mobility is the integration of multi-modal transport systems and moving people to get into public transport from personalised transport modes.
Parwez said urban India was the most neglected area until the 1990s, as urban planning was not in sync with connectivity or mobility issues. He said BMRCL is getting a lot of support from startups in mobility to ensure that commuters have last-mile connectivity. He said the corporation is tying up with mobility providers to get people to reach the nodal point and commute to their workplaces. Parwez said the Namma Metro has recently gone digital with its payment options that include the use of QR code scans and UPI-based payment options which has met with good response from commuters.
Also, he said there is no waiting time for passengers who are in a hurry as there is no need to stand in queues to buy tickets or cards now. He said BMRCL is working on a transit-oriented development where commuters live close to the stations and to the workplace. Besides, the BMRCL also intends to integrate all aggregators by bringing out a mobility card for commuters. He said the corporation is in talks with BMTC to have bus stops at metro stations to help commuters hop on and hop off both modes of transport.
He said bike taxis and carpooling should be encouraged although the government of Karnataka had put brakes on their operation. The BMRCL is also working on introducing shopping options for commuters inside and outside the metro stations. He said the BMRCL plans to sell office space in metro stations and provide end-to-end solutions to all the stakeholders.