Mobility plan for city targets pollution-free transport

Jaipur: The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Jaipur, drafted by the UDH department and RITES, expands beyond urban mobility to prioritse a pollution-free transport network.Projecting the city's population to exceed 1 crore by 2055, the plan outlines the required number and types of vehicles for city roads, with all categories proposed as electric. It also identifies 25 locations across Jaipur to be developed as EV charging areas.A senior official said the CMP intends to develop a Sustainable Urban Transport (SUT) network to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. "The CMP proposes shifting to alternative fuels and highly efficient technology. In simple words, by 2055 all vehicles to be run on city roads will be e-vehicles. To facilitate the movements of e-vehicles, the CMP proposes 11 charging stations for buses and another 11 charging/battery swapping stations for e-rickshaws," the official said.Besides the introduction of vehicles run by alternative fuels, the CMP also proposes non-motorised transport corridors (NMT) and facilities for pedestrians. To build the NMT and pedestrian corridors, the govt will focus on development of footpaths, construction of foot overbridges and other forms of pedestrian crossing facilities, development of cycle lanes, and introduction of e-bike sharing facilities."Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) is emerging as one of the most sustainable and popular transport modes across the globe. The CMP emphasizes the introduction of a PBS system as last-mile connectivity to and from homes to nearest metro stations," another official added.The CMP proposes a total network of 25.5 km for development of footpaths across the city. In addition, there are plans to construct NVM lanes covering 16 km across the city, especially along the industrial areas of Mansarovar and Sitapura. In addition, the CMP proposes different structures of pedestrian crossings (like footbridges or subways) at 17 major intersections in Jaipur.