Bhubaneswar Pioneer Smart City Concept In India, Promoting Green Public Transport

Bhubaneswar has been working hard to fully implement the smart city concept. With this in mind, SPV (special purpose vehicles) has created a mobility plan coordination committee. The committee is responsible for making a roadmap to bring vehicles with low carbon emission in the city.

On Tuesday, the committee’s first meeting was held, gathering several experts in the sustainable urban mobility field to come up with a plan for implementing greener vehicles. The transport measures are meant to be appointed by the city transport service for the city residents.

According to sources, the Sustainable Urban Transport Systems for the Smart Cities (SMART-SUT) group is already carrying out the plan. This team is comprised of WRI, India, Wuppertal Institute which is backed by BUKC (Bhubaneswar Urban Knowledge) and BDA (Bhubaneswar Development Authority).

In several reports, BSCL Managing director, Krishan Kumar, said that the plan’s purpose is to find means of transport to reduce carbon emission. Among the options, some had already been in use such as the Mo Bus including 125 new buses that offer in-bus CCTV (closed-circuit television) surveillance, Wi-Fi, as well as a customized app for commuters, all of which are at a reasonable price.

These buses are made to encourage the public to use public transport, in order that the city can depend less on motorized travel. According to Kumar, the next phase of the plan will see a public bicycle renting system integrated with buses.

The fact that authorities are making progress indicates their smart moves in transferring to cleaner and more integrated transportation mode in the city. Many others are doing the same thing, such as the NCR region, for which the Delhi authority lately paid a visit to China for a better understanding of operating electric buses.

When the plan is implemented in this region by June next year, hopefully, these electric buses will save the city from the rising air pollution.