CHENNAI: No more standing in queues for tickets. No long wait to get home after a tiring day’s work. Commuting in Chennai will soon become easier with the implementation of Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority.
Initiated in 2010, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) is slowly taking shape under the AIADMK regime, after some key deliberations and changes in the formation of the authority.
Experts feel this will make mobility quicker and simpler as the focus of CUMTA is to frame an urban transport policy for the Chennai Metropolitan Area on the lines of National Urban Transport Policy.
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) emphasised 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 all department heads and chiefs of line agencies.
Currently, the state government has 10 different agencies involved in traffic and transportation management in Chennai Metropolitan area, governed by various ministries and departments. Experts felt that since many agencies were involved in planning and providing operations and managing transportation system in the CMA, the role of such agencies overlap. This gave rise to the need for a unified agency for proper coordination and streamlining of activities among various agencies.
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