Govt keen to set up urban transport authority

The Union government has intensified efforts to set up Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) and Urban Transport Fund (UTF) for a planned and coordinated implementation of urban transport projects

The Union Ministry of Urban Development is currently working at a fast pace to finalise mechanisms for setting up UMTA and UTF. To sensitise transport professionals and city officials on the current scenario of UMTA and UTF, a national level workshop was organised in Delhi recently.

UMTAs and UTF are to be set up to ensure coordinated planning and implementation of urban transport programmes and projects and an integrated management of urban transport systems. The workshop dwelt on drafting the policy and manuals of UMTA and UTF needed to finance the required investment in Sustainable Urban Transport.

The workshop witnessed the participants sharing national as well as international experience in establishment of UMTA and UTF. Views of participants on possible options for UMTA and UTF in terms of legal, institutional, financial, organisational and functional aspects were obtained as to whether UMTA could be a statutory authority responsible directly to the state government and functions that should be assigned to the UMTAs, for coordinating multi-modal transport, master plans, urban transport standards and regulate fees and fares.