Pod Taxis Might Become A Reality In Bengaluru As Civic Body Floats Tender
Futuristic pod taxis in India’s Information Technology (IT) Capital of Bengaluru? It looks like it might be true with the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) inviting tenders to implement the idea in the city under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Minister for Bengaluru Development and State Town Planning K J George announced this in a tweet yesterday (13 November).
The BBMP had in October asked the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) to prepare for the project so as to obtain cabinet approval, reports The News Minute.
We had called for tenders on Sunday itself. Initially, Indian Institute of Science was appointed to assess the feasibility of the project. After it submitted the feasibility report, we called for tenders. BBMP will not spend a single penny for this project. The companies which take up the project will have to bear the cost. Once the tender is finalised, the DULT will submit the final report to the cabinet for its approval.BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad to The News Minute
Pod Taxis – a form of personal rapid transport (PRT) – involves driverless cars on rails that carry not more than six people at a time. The BBMP had identified six corridors in May this year: Trinity Circle to Leela Palace, Leela Palace to Marathahalli, Marathahalli to Export Promotion Industrial Park, Whitefield, Trinity Metro Station to Koramangala and then HSR Layout, Jayanagar Fifth Block to JP Nagar Sixth Phase and Sony Signal, Koramangala to Indiranagar Metro Station.
US-based JPODS, UAE-based Ultra Fairwood and skyTran have shown interest in the project, said the News Minute report.
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