Tumkur city is located at about 70 km northwest of Bangalore, which makes it the largest city closest to Bangalore. The city had a population of 248,592 during the 2001 Census. Owing to its proximity to Bangalore, the city is witnessing significant growth and development. The Government of Karnataka has even issued a notification recently (August 2010) for upgrading the Tumkur City Municipal Council to a City Corporation.
As per the recent statistics, the vehicular population in the city stood at 97,751 of which 75,744 came from motorcycles alone. Lack of effective public transport facilities have forced the citizens to opt for personalized modes of transport and other para-transit (auto-rickshaws). All this have resulted in significant economic losses apart from increased congestion and travel times, while posing larger environmental consequences. With a view to address the grave situation, which most medium towns are facing, it is essential to try out mechanisms for averting such trends in the light of National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP).
With a view to address this grim situation, Gubbi Labs is working with KSRTC to carry-out a research based intervention by introducing a dedicated bus-based city transport service for a medium-sized city and evaluate the impacts and possible mechanisms for replicating and scaling up these interventions in many other such medium towns. The proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.
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