From small town of Punawadi to upcoming metro city of the country, Pune has emerged as one of the fastest growing cities in the country. The city which was originally situated on the banks of Mutha river is now expanding in every direction. However, the major hurdle which Pune has not been able to cross in terms of development is the strengthening of city’s public transport.
Poor public transport system has forced Puneites to rely on two-wheelers earning the erstwhile city of bicycle riders, the tag of city of bikers.
Failure of PMPML, mushrooming of private vehicles
While the population of Pune is ever growing, city’s only public bus transport system – Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) – has only about 1,500 buses in its fleet to cater to passengers from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
While other metro cities are looking forward to strengthen the public transport system by introducing metros, mono rails, etc; Pune is still struggling with its local bus transport system.
As a result, the city has witnessed an increase in the number of private vehicles.
Presently Pune has nearly 30 lakh private vehicles, of which 20 lakh are two-wheelers. This number will continue to rise as 20,000 vehicles are registered with Pune RTO every month.
Metro rail could be the answer
Mere increase in number of public transport buses will not solve Pune’s traffic problems. The administration and leaders will have to introduce other systems such as Bus Rapid Transit system, metro rail, mono rail, etc.
Metro Rail Project is probably the best option to connect the city ends. The Maharashtra cabinet approved the ambitious Metro rail project for Pune on June 7. The civic body had already approved the Metro rail route from Vanaz to Ramwadi and Pimpri-Chinchwad to Swargate.
