KOCHI:
Public transportation in Kochi is heading for a revolutionary change, as several key locations in the city will be connected through the metro rail and the water metro projects. Yet, Infopark, the IT Hub of Kochi, is outside the ambit of public transport and over 20,000 of its workforce are finding it tough to avail themselves o
f these benefits, mainly due to the lack of buses. In addition companies at infopark also face the challenges associated with private vehicle parking.
Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) and World Trade Centre, Kochi, conducted a workshop on ‘Connecting Dots for Public Transportation’ on Thursday (March 23) at WTC Kochi Infopark from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
Bose Nair, Vice President, World Trade Centre Bangalore gave the welcome address and set the tone of the workshop. The workshop was led by Dr D Dhanuraj, Chairman, CPPR. Key elements discussed during the workshop included, what comprise a public transport system, the present state of public transport system in Kochi and its relevance to Infopark, Kochi.
In order to make public transport more appealing, one has to look into issues of
availability, accessibility and quality of public transport. In spite of having so many numbers of buses plying in Kochi city, the number of employees of Infopark availing public transport is minimal. Some of the reasons stated for this minimal usage are low frequency of buses plying to Infopark, buses are not being allowed inside Infopark and the lack of adequate bus stops.
