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Created: 12 March 2015

NEW DELHI:  The new Road Transport and Safety Bill 2015, in place of Motor Vehicle Act 1988, proposes to constitute a National Road Transport and Multimodal Co-ordination Authority and State Transport Authority with an objective and power to plan and develop integrated, safe and sustainable transport systems that contribute to an inclusive, prosperous and environmentally responsible India under Sections 109 to 145 of Chapter-VI. In Section 139 of the proposed bill, the primary objective of State Transport Authority includes the following:-

(1) to ensure, in collaboration with National Transport Authority, other state transport bodies and public entities, urban local bodies and land holding agencies and the traffic police, that the public transport system is planned and operated as part of an integrated transport system which seeks to meet the needs of all transport system users within the state;

(2) to organize and regulate the public transport system in a manner which supports a multi-modal integrated transport system within the state by

(i) increasing the share of public transport trips within the state;

(ii) actively promoting public transport usage;

(iii) improving the environmental performance and minimizing the adverse environmental impacts of the public transport system;

(iv) contributing to social well-being by providing access to livelihood opportunities and supporting social interaction amongst members of the community;

(v) promoting economic prosperity through efficient and reliable movement of public transport users while also supporting the movement of livestock and freight; and

(vi) Collaborating with relevant bodies including the Central Government, the State Government, National Transport Authority, State Road Transport Corporations, public and private transport operators, urban local bodies, the National Authority, the State Safety Authority, State Police and other such bodies, in order to improve the efficiency of public transport for public transport users.

The Government of India has undertaken a project “Security for Women in public road transport in the country”. The objective of the scheme is to ensure safety of women and girl child in public transport by monitoring location of public road transport vehicles to provide immediate assistance in minimum response time to the victims in distress.

The proposed scheme under the “Nirbhaya Fund” envisages setting up of a unified system at the National Level (National Vehicle Security and Tracking System) and State level (City Command and Control Centre) for GPS tracking of the location of, emergency buttons in and video recording of incidents in public transport vehicles, in 32 cities of the country with a population of 1 million or more.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Pon Radhakrishnan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.