₹100 cr Urban Transport Fund to drive mobility reforms in Ahmedabad and Surat

GANDHINAGAR : The Gujarat government has constituted the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) to address traffic congestion in the megacity of Ahmedabad and the textile hub of Surat, coordinate public transport systems such as city buses, BRTS, and metro rail, and ensure last-mile connectivity from residential areas to workplaces, thereby strengthening urban public transport management in the two major cities.

Several key decisions were taken at the first meeting of the authority’s committee, held on Thursday and chaired by the Chief Secretary. Among them was the decision to allocate an Urban Transport Fund of ₹100 crore as initial seed capital to support UMTA. The corpus is expected to be provided through a budgetary provision in the state government’s 2026–27 budget.

Three additional initiatives were approved for Ahmedabad and Surat—One City, One Mobility Card; Common Mobility Plan; and Last-Mile Connectivity—with municipal commissioners of both cities asked to submit detailed reports at the earliest.

One City, One Mobility Card
The proposed card will enable passengers to travel across BRTS, city bus services (including AMTS), and metro rail within a fixed distance, allowing seamless use of all public transport modes through a single payment system. Both municipal corporations have been directed to expedite the launch of the card along with a dedicated transport mobile application, and to quickly issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for selecting an implementing agency.

Common Mobility Plan
A comprehensive assessment will be conducted to identify routes already served by public transport and areas lacking connectivity in the two cities. Public transport services will then be introduced in underserved corridors.

Last-Mile Connectivity
UMTA aims to ensure convenient access to public transport from locations near passengers’ homes to their workplaces, improving the overall usability of mass transit.

Multimodal Transport Hubs
Major multimodal hubs are planned at key metro junctions in Ahmedabad, including Motera and Thaltej, where integrated feeder services will connect surrounding areas. This is expected to reduce reliance on private vehicles for reaching transit points and help address parking congestion.

It is learnt that the Urban Transport Fund will support the planning, implementation, operations, and maintenance of strengthened public transport systems. Improved last-mile services are expected to reduce the number of private vehicles on roads and ease traffic congestion.

Gujarat to Emulate Other States
Similar urban transport management structures are already operational in states such as Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Gujarat is adopting elements of these models, beginning with Ahmedabad and Surat, with plans to extend the framework to other major cities in the future.