E-rickshaws may soon get permits from Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited (AICTSL). A survey will be taken and on the basis of that, routes would soon be identified in order to assess viability in areas that are not connected by public transport and permits for specific routes would be given.
The move is aimed at increasing connectivity options of public transport by regulating routes of e-rickshaws being run by individuals.
Hitherto, there are around 1500 e-rickshaws including 100 that are being run under AICTSL in the city. However, the routes of most of these e-rickshaws and other passenger vehicles like buses, vans, and rickshaws are common and hence, this prompted officials to plan for an arrangement, where e-rickshaw operators could be assigned certain routes to provide connectivity options for citizens from their respective localities to their nearby bus stops.
A final decision in this regard was taken on Monday in a meeting convened at AICTSL Office wherein officials were instructed to send a proposal to the state government seeking permission.
This arrangement would work in the same manner that it works for passenger vehicles like buses, vans, where their owners have to obtain a permit from the transport department to pick and drop passengers on different routes.
If the proposal gets a green signal from the government, an arrangement will be made where e-rickshaws operators will be allotted different routes or areas. The routes being the ones where there is no availability of public transport.
The whole idea is to provide last-mile connectivity options of public transport services for citizens to improve traffic conditions in the city.
Read our blog on the E-rickshaws connectivity from BRTS stops, here