This document discusses sustainable transport projects in India that involve autorickshaws and taxis. It outlines three projects proposed for funding under the Global Environment Facility: 1) Promoting efficient city bus systems, 2) A public bike sharing scheme, and 3) Transforming autorickshaws into "green autos" by integrating them into a radio-taxi style dispatch system. The total estimated cost for these three demonstration projects is $618.4 crore (USD). Autorickshaws and taxis play an important urban transport role but need organizational reforms to address issues like empty trips and service quality. The session aims to discuss barriers and opportunities to promote such reforms through entrepreneurship initiatives and share best practices from other cities.

1. ROLE OF AUTORICKSHAWS
AND TAXIS IN SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORT
R K Singh, Dir(UT), Ministry of Urban Development

2. ROLE OF AUTO RICKSHAWS/TAXIS IN
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

3. AGENDA FOR THE SESSION

4. SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT
PROJECT
GEF-5: A Way Forward
R K Singh
Dir(UT)
Ministry of Urban Development
16th
April-2013

5. SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT
PROJECT
The two main objectives of SUTP are:
Strengthening capacity of GOI, Institute of Urban Transport (IUT), and
participating states and cities in planning, financing, implementing,
operating and managing sustainable urban transport systems;
and
Assisting states and cities in preparing and implementing
demonstration “Green Transport” projects.
SUTP is initiated by GoI with the support of the Global Environment
Facility (GEF), World Bank and United Nations Development
Program (UNDP).
Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) is the nodal agency for the
project.
The implementation of SUTP is planned over the next four years.
The total cost of the project is 1427.97 crores.

6. BACK GROUND
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 Achieving sustainable urban transport became a primary objective
with the adoption of National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) by the
Government of India (GoI) in 2006.
 Under the influence of the NUTP and JnNURM initiatives, urban
transport has received considerable attention since 2006. However, it
has been recognized that limited institutional and human capacity in
urban transport at both national and local levels is a major constrain.
 In order to overcome this situation SUTP aims at improving the
capacities of the government officials and decision makers in the
urban transport sector to appreciate urban transport in all its
dimensions and develop the skills for undertaking urban transport
planning and management in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
 The SUTP program under GEF-4 is an outcome of the realization that
it is needed to build capacity for implementing Sustainable Urban
Transport in India.

7.  Baseline of the proposal: JnNURM Project supporting acquisition of bus fleets
for 61 cities.
 Rising pollution levels in Indian cities require that efficient and sustainable bus
transport is promoted pro-actively. Therefore MoUD along with World Bank has
proposed the project “Promoting Efficient and Sustainable Bus Transport
System in India” for USD 295.12 M under GEF 5.
 Objective: Promote a shift from private to public transport by focusing more
comprehensively on city bus transport keeping in view multiple issues such as
operational, financial, regulatory and fiscal constraints. This project will also
focus on:
 Common Mobility Card
 Intelligent Transport System & Passenger Information System
 National Public Transport Helpline
 Usage of Hybrid Vehicle 7
1. Promoting Energy
Efficient &
Sustainable City Bus
Systems (through
World Bank)

8. CONTD.. Current Status:
 Proposals from all the JnNURM cities were invited and the interested 20 cities
made a presentation to the Representatives of WB, MoUD, and PMU.
 After evaluation 10 cities had been short listed for submitting the revised
proposals as per the suggestions provided.
 Revised proposals received and evaluation under progress.
 Project Components:
 Component 1: Technical Assistance on Regulatory, institutional & fiscal issues
 Component 2: City Demonstration Project –TA & Capacity Building
 Component 3: City Demonstration Project – Physical Investments
 GEF grant, Co-financing and Co-funding:
 Total Project Cost: USD 295.12 M
 GEF grant: USD 10.12 M
 WB Loan: 285.00 M
 The counter-part funding from the Govt. of India and the State Governments
would be from the funding already provided under the JnNURM-1 scheme as
well as the funding to be provided under the existing schemes of Urban
Transport Planning and Capacity Building and as such no additional funding
would be required. The expenditure already incurred for procurement
of buses under JnNURM-1 is to be treated as counter-part funding by
GoI for availing of the World Bank loan.
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9. CONTD..
 Along with improvement in public transport it is also necessary that the use of
green transport is promoted concurrently to bring down the pollution levels.
Therefore two sustainable urban transport programs are also suggested for
implementation under GEF 5 through UNDP. They are:
• Public Bike Sharing Scheme
• Transforming Auto rickshaws to “GREEN AUTOS”
 The estimated cost of the above two green projects will be Rs.618.4 crore
(including capacity building component).
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10.  A lot of trips using private modes can be reduced by creating a city-
wide cycling infrastructure and integrating it with public modes of
transport.
 In India, mode share of cycling has declined very rapidly from 30 % in
1994 to 11% in 2007-08.
 Urgent proactive steps need to be taken to reverse this trend.
Likely Benefits:
 Potential impact of each pilot project consisting of 100 stations with
2000 cycles will be as follows:
 Generates 4 million trips in 1 year
 Saves 2 lakh litres of petrol / Rs.65 lakh in crude imports
 Reduces Carbon emissions by 500 tons
 Implementing the pilot project in 7 cities will multiply the savings by
7 times.
 Total estimated cost – Rs.490 crores
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2. Public Bike Sharing Scheme

11.  Project Costing:
 Assuming an average of 2000 bicycles are provided at 100 stations in each of
the first 7 cities of India,
Initial cost of introducing ‘Green–BIKES’ = 3500 X 2000 X 100 X 7
= Rs.490 crores.
In addition:
Brand Building and awareness campaign = Rs.10 crores
 TOTAL COST = RS.500 CRORES
 Annual cost of replacement of bicycles & operating and maintenance
cost including staff cost which will be 25-30% of the capital cost
approx., will be covered by nominal bicycle hire charges,
membership fee and advertisement revenue.
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CONTD..

12.  Auto-rickshaws are low cost shared systems ferrying a large number of
commuters in many cities. However the entire fleet operates in a disorganized
and unaccountable manner causing much discomfort to the commuters and
other stakeholders.
 A demand response scheduling facility like the ‘radio-taxi’ system for auto-
rickshaws has the potential to solve the problem for all the stakeholders.
 Likely Benefits:
 Reduce GHG emissions by 20% by drastic reduction in their empty running.
 Help remove congestion at busy places like Railway Stations, Interchange stations, major bus
stops, Commercial/Institutional establishments as these autos block the roads waiting for
passengers.
 The GPS and Computer Controlled Systems will make them safe mode and will restore the
faith of public in these modes thereby increasing the share of Para-transit at the cost of
private modes.
Total cost – Rs.875 crores
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3. Transforming Auto Rickshaws to
Green Autos

13.  Project Costing:
 Assuming an average 5000 Autos in 7 large cities in pilot phase
 Initial cost of introducing ‘Green–Autos’ = 250000 X 5000 X 7
= Rs.875 Crore
 Annual operating and maintenance including staff cost will be covered by
service charges to be levied on autos and users. The infrastructure cost of
providing building etc. for setting up the Control Centre is assumed to be
borne by the Sate/City Govt.
 CAPACITY BUILDING:
• This will also require capacity building of the staff, training of auto
rickshaw drivers and raising awareness among the users.
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CONTD..

14.  Competitive Process with emphasis on
 Clear commitment to the project
 Comprehensive set of modernization measures for full
and visible impact
 Innovation and adoption of latest techniques and
practices
 Reform agenda
Selection Criteria for Pilot Cities

15. ROLE OF AUTO-RICKSHAWS
Autorickshaws and taxis are an important part of UT.
Found in most of the cities.
As an IPTfill a critical gap between private and public transport
mode.
Importance by sheer size of the market. >50000 in Tier I cities (4M+)
15000-30000 Tier II (1-4M)
Shortcoming:
Belong to unrecognised sector which poses many challenges such as
lack of brand image, poor public perception, poor quality of service,
empty trips , crimes etc.
There is a need to have organizational reforms in the form of fleet
based services to address the existing challenges.

16. OBJECTIVE OF THE PRESENT
SESSION:
(I) TO DISCUSS THE CURRENT
BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO
PROMOTE ORGANIZATIONAL
REFORMS THROUGH AUTO-
RICKSHAW AND TAXI
ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVES.
(II) HIGHLIGHT BEST PRACTICES
FROM SELECT CITIES.

17. THANKS