About Kochi Public Transport Day
About
Kochi Public Transport Day
Transportation is the key to the mobility requirements of a city, and is connected to job, opportunities and economic well-being of its people. Called the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi is the largest urban agglomeration in Kerala with a metropolitan population of 2.1 million. It is also the financial, commercial and industrial capital of the state. Changing demographics and workforce trends have led to drastic changes in the mobility options of the city. About half of Kochi’s population commute to work daily, with 45 per cent of them relying on private vehicles. This roughly translates to 1,00,000 cars within the city limits every day.
Cities in Kerala rank high in the Public Transport Accessibility Index and City Bus Transport Supply Index with a high penetration of public transport buses. Kochi is no exception. With a commissioned water metro service on the cards, the second phase of the Kochi metro rail underway and the first phase already operational, mobility in the city is getting better by the day.
Kochi Public Transport Day is a people-driven, yearlong campaign steered by the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) to spread awareness on the available modes of public transport in Kochi and deploy them wisely for the benefit of the public. Our primary and secondary targets are the private vehicle and public transport users – to encourage the former to start using public transport and help retain the latter in availing public transport services.
One day every month will be designated as Kochi Public Transport Day, with a different theme assigned for each month to spread awareness and celebrate the services and benefits of the city’s public transport system. The first edition of the Kochi Public Transport Day held on January 27, 2018, marked the launch of the campaign. Public forums, discourses, events and competitions directed at school and college students are planned throughout the year in addition to several other activities to spread awareness among the residents of Kochi.
The aim of the campaign is two-fold. First, it intends for creating awareness on the benefits of using public transport and thus encouraging private vehicle users to shift to public transport, with the increase in private vehicles creating the perfect recipe for vehicle–pedestrian conflicts and unsafe conditions for all. Second, it aims to study the gaps in the existing public transport system in the city and recommend solutions to closing the gaps, in a bid to offer seamless transport services to the public.
The campaign is held in conjunction with the local administration, civil society organisations, and residents of Kochi. Alongside campaigning activities, the CPPR research team will study governance processes, institutional structures, and spatial distribution of transport services in Kochi, to create credible research data that will increase the understanding of the transport services and inform individual and collective decision making about the public transport system.
The societal impacts of the campaign are widespread and long lasting in achieving overall sustainability. Increased use of public transport could help reduce the number of private vehicles on road, in turn, leading to better air quality in the city. Grasping the huge potential of the public transport system and its socio-economic and environmental gains, countries around the world are investing huge amounts of money into the transport sector every year. In India, the development of the transport sector accounts for 6.4 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations include one or more targets that address transport, both rural and urban. While some name transport directly, many of the SDG targets incorporate transport by recognising the importance of accessibility in other major social domains like health and education.
Kochi Public Transport Day emphasises the fact that the people of Kochi have a pivotal role in the way the city functions. The activities are designed in such a manner that the public play a major role and understand the change they can make through their involvement in the campaign.
Interested in volunteering with us?
All of us want the city, town, or village we live in to be a cleaner, greener and safer place. If you have ever felt that actions matter and a small act could create big changes, Kochi Public Transport Day presents to you a golden chance. A chance to make Kochi a better place to live in!
We are a research organisation, seeking people, who could contribute some time and lots of commitment for a social cause. Through Kochi Public Transport Day, we encourage the people of Kochi to make the best use of the city’s multimodal public transport network and thus reduce the number of private vehicles on road.
We require volunteers, who could help us get the message to the public through different mediums like writing articles/blogs, designing posters, conducting surveys and managing events.
You could be a school or college student, working in an office or at home, or, as likely as not, a daily commuter.
Say something about yourself and register with us. We will get back to you before you can say, ‘How much dub would a dubstep step, if a dubstep could step dub?’ five times without a mistake. Come on, give it a try!
Click here to volunteer with us
Click here to volunteer with us