Jaipur: Experts and regular commuters have criticised the Traffic Control Board’s (TCB) decision to curb the movement of e-rickshaws while increasing the number of auto rickshaws on city roads. They opined that the decision to ban e-rickshaws on selected flyovers and elevated roads would lead to traffic congestion on both sides of these flyovers, where the e-rickshaws would now try to take U-turns.“In the meeting, it was decided to stop the movement of e-rickshaws at a few selected flyovers, RoBs, and elevated roads across the city, including the Tonk Puliya. This is a suicidal step. Now, e-rickshaws coming from the Ajmer Gate through Tonk Road have to take a U-turn at the Laxmi Mandir Tiraha. From where would they turn? Through the already congested underpass of the Tonk Puliya,” said Amit Sharma, who is doing research on city traffic for quite some time.Additionally, experts feel that curbing the movement of a shared vehicle like the e-rickshaw would reduce the available space on city roads. TCB Thursday decided to add a fleet of around 5,000 auto rickshaws to strengthen the city’s transport infrastructure. “In modern times, we call it urban mobility instead of urban transportation. It means you not only increase the number of fleets but also ensure that vehicles move conveniently on city roads and modes of transportation are affordable for all. The idea of replacing a shared mode of transport with a metered mode drastically reduces the space on the city roads. It is a complete contrast to the laid-down norms of any urban mobility policy,” said a senior bureaucrat, who framed a few transport-related policies for the state govt over the years.Members of TCB claim the decision was essentially taken to curb the movements of the e-rickshaws on the highways and main roads to reduce the chances of road accidents.
Traffic board’s e-rickshaw curbs spark mobility row | Jaipur News
