Chhattisgarh is all set to adopt the US model of developing dedicated Public Transport corridors in its cities. The development of a highly evolved Public Transport System with dedicated corridors, will begin from the road connecting Swami Vivekananda Airport to Raipur city, said Chhattisgarh’s Urban Administration and Development Minister Amar Agarwal. Agarwal who is currently on a visit to the US told the officials of Southern California Association of Governments in Los Angeles in a meeting that the project would have dedicated corridors for pedestrians, cyclists, two-wheeler users, cars and buses. During the meeting, the Minister asked Principal Secretary, Urban Administration Department RP Mandal accompanying him to prepare a work plan on implementing the proposed Transport System on the lines of developed nations in Raipur. The Southern California Association of Governments is known for framing developmental plans of metropolitan cities. Present in the meeting were Secretary to Senior Advisor of US Department of Public Transportation Caroline Flowers , Senior Manager of the US Transport Department Steven Fox and Manager of Transit and Rail Department Phillip Law. The New York city officials in the United States involved in urban infrastructure management tasks had already evinced keen interest in taking up a series of training programmes on road safety measures and street design initiatives in Chhattisgarh’s cities. During the ongoing visit of Chhatisgarh’s Urban Administrative and Development Minister Amar Agrawal to the United States, the officials of New York city gave presentation on Road Safety Initiative, Street Design including Bicycle Sharing Scheme under Vision-Zero, officials stated. The officials in New York city provided consent in principle for implementing these measures in cities of Chhattisgarh, officials said. Chhattisgarh Urban Administration and Development Minister Amar Agrawal had deliberated upon planned development of cities in Chhattisgarh with senior officials of New York City during his ongoing tour of the United States, officials stated. He had made a presentation on the measures taken for traffic regulation in cities and the action plan for promoting public transport in Chhattisgarh State, in front of Transport Commissioner Michael Replogal and his subordinates in New York City. In the meeting, discussion on development of other resources of public transport also conducted. Afterwards, agreement for organising a training programme at Institute for Transport, before implementation of Light Rail Transport (LRT) system in Chhattisgarh was taken up. Replagol appreciated the initiatives taken by Chhattisgarh Government for regulating traffic in the cities and also discussed about the city bus scheme implemented under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JLNURM), officials stated. He said that the model adopted by Chhattisgarh will bring transparency in the system. Principal Secretary of Urban Administration and Development Department RP Mandal and Senior Deputy Commissioner of New York Aron Sugeora were also present. Incidentally, the Indian Government has sanctioned immediate funds at the rate of Rs2 crore for each city included in the Smart City Mission in the State. The amount of Rs2 crore provided for each city is meant for preparation of city-level Smart City plans along with the assistance of technical and hand holding agencies, officials stated. Notably, Raipur and Bilaspur are the two cities which have been included in the Smart City Mission among 96 cities included in the country for the project. Efficient urban mobility and public transport is one of the core infrastructure element of the Smart City project. On the other hand, the Naya Raipur Mass Transport Ltd (NRMTL) is in the process of developing a total of three BRTS corridors covering a total of 40 kms with exclusive ‘Right of Way’ with the possibility of mixed route extension. NRMTL established to act as a Special Purpose Vehicle to carry out the objectives of building, constructing and developing public transport system has proposed to develop the BRTS with private sector participation, officials stated. The Corridor-I would be of 25 kms from Raipur Railway Station till Capitol Complex in Naya Raipur. The Corridor-III would be of 17.8 kms within Naya Raipur. To facilitate BRTS operations, the NRMTL would provide depots and workshops to park and service the vehicles when not in use. The operator would maintain 30 air conditioned buses at routes designated by NRMTL. If the fleet requirement is more , 10 more buses would be provided by the operator of similar specifications. An ‘Intelligent Tracking System’ (ITS) would be established under the proposed Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the new administrative capital.