A humble bus stand turns into hub of an integrated transport network…..Shaju Philip
It began as a civic plan: a bus stand that would ease traffic congestion in the city of Kochi. Today, it is on the way to becoming a mega project integrating road, rail and water transport.
The Kochi Mobility Hub, locally known as Vyttila mobility hub, has ended up being designed not only as an integrated transportation terminal but also as a key business centre, the commercial space spanning 5 lakh square feet. The total project spans 25.19 acres of land, handed over to the project by the state agriculture department.
The idea of a bus stand had come up over a decade ago from local people for decongesting Kochis roads. However, the project evolved into a mobility hub for three modes of transportation after the detailed project report was prepared, said Dr M Beena, IAS, managing director of the mobility hub.
Buses started operating on June 1 from 13 bays, each accommodating five. The hub now caters to 780 buses, including city and long-distance ones, with up to 500 using the terminal an hour, a capacity that will go up to 2,000 after the completion of the second phase, targeted for March 2014. Comfort stations and eateries too have been opened on the complex.
Generally, bus terminals in Kerala are constructed by local bodies and have bays for 20 to 50 buses and rooms for shops, rented out by the local body as an extra source of income. Kochis Mobility Hub Society is registered as a charitable society, with the IAS officer as its managing director. The Chief Secretary is the ex-officio chairman of the governing body, while the Chief Minister is the patron and four other ministers are members.
Kochi, where national highways 47, 17 and 49 meet, is also part of National Waterway III. Water transport will come in the second phase. Three boat jetties, one for tourism and two for passenger traffic, will be constructed. The society will hand over the jetties to government and private agencies for operating their services connecting various parts of Kochi and nearby areas, across a network of several canals.
Also in the second phase, two underground basements will be developed for private vehicles to park. Besides, the ground and first floors of the main building will be converted into a bus parking facility.
The proposed commercial establishments will start from the second floor. The society will lease out the area for commercial development. The hub will have a star hotel, multiplexes, swimming pools, food courts, health clubs, branded outlets and several other establishments, said the MD.
To make it a rail hub too, the government has asked the Railways to allow trains to stop near the Vytilla mobility hub, which is only 100 metres from the Thiruvananthapuram-Shornur line. Once that is allowed, a corridor will be constructed to link the hub. The alignment of the proposed Kochi Metro, too, goes through the mobility hub.
Beena said the concept of the mobility hub as a meeting point of various modes of transportation was innovative. This is the first project in India where multi-modal transportation system has been integrated into a single platform, she said. Implementation in a time-bound manner was possible due to the flexibility in the functioning of the governing body, she added.