by D. Dhanuraj
I was not at all surprised by this reaction of the commuters in the Mobility Hub premises but was rather excited by the fact that they reached out to the public and authorities in a very enterprising manner. What is Mobility Hub? that is a question that demands not the definitions but the comprehensiveness about the plans and processes in the ground. Mobility Hub is maximised for the meeting of different modes of transportation at a major place. They meet each other as the location ideally suits for the convergence and distribution of different transportation networks accordance to the mobility features of the commuting population. It should save energy, time and offer seamless flow of traffic using any of the modes available. These modes shall be readily available and the information regarding the same shall be easily obtained for the demanding passenger. In lesser time, one should be able to interchange the mode of transport (if required) to reach the final destination.
In the past, whenever I traveled across the state of Kerala, I wondered how many bus stands each city or township has? At many places I found three. One of the reasons they have cited is that there requires two separate bus terminals for KSRTC and Private Buses. From an economic view point, I am curious why KSRTC owns hundreds of hectors of land for this purpose across the State. While KSRTC in loss making brackets, why cant they innovate on this owned properties.
Same logic has been applied in the case of Vyttila Mobility Hub also. They have reasoned out to have separate bays keeping it separate from Private Bus operators'. It is sad to witness children, senior citizens along with the tired and exhausted floating population run between the bays to get on to buses at the peak times. Why can't KSRTC and private buses operate from the same bus bay for the same destination? I must ask this question to the authorities? whom are you serving in the Mobility Hub? aren't the commuting population your clients and customers? Have we been defeated ourselves in defining the purpose and motive of Mobility Hub?
Please provide access and accommodation to the commuters. No one has to loiter around to figure out the various services offered by the operators. If that is the case, why do we need a mobility hub? why can't we have the traditional bus stands in the city?
