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The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Women-driven e-rickshaws to be deployed in Puducherry's Boulevard for last-mile connectivity
Residents can soon zip around Puducherry city in environmentally friendly e-rickshaws driven by women. The Transport Department has procured 38 white-and-blue e-rickshaws, which will be operated by the Puducherry Municipality in the Boulevard area to enhance last-mile connectivity. The fleet is scheduled to be launched next week. E-rickshaws, which are popular in Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur, are not only efficient and environment friendly, but also a cheap mode of transport, officials said. Four charging stations — two each at the Mairie building, where the Puducherry Municipality office is located, and the Old Port — are being set up for the vehicles. Additionally, 15 charging points are proposed at a permanent site belonging to the municipality in Dubryapet. Powered by lithium-ion technology, the e-rickshaw offers increased savings, superior ride quality, and comfort for drivers and passengers. The zero-emission vehicle can travel up to 85 km on a single charge. 'With a view to include women in the green mobility landscape in the city, the Transport Department has identified around 150 women and issued driving licences to them. The municipality has trained around 38 women drivers to drive the electric rickshaws. The rides can be booked through an app,' Transport Commissioner A.S. Sivakumar said. He added, 'The penetration of intermediary public transport is very low, especially in the Boulevard area. With limited options for mobility, the government has introduced e-rickshaws. These battery-operated vehicles have multiple benefits and can easily navigate the narrow roads in the French and Tamil quarters in the Boulevard area. The vehicle can carry four passengers and can run 85 km on full charge.' Initially, five e-rickshaws will be rolled out, and the rest will be introduced in a phased manner. The Transport Department has framed procedural guidelines for licensing/registration and grant of permit for the e-rickshaws to provide affordable transport to senior citizens, women, and children for last-mile connectivity. The introduction of e-rickshaws is aimed at empowering women and providing them with a secure means of livelihood, officials said. While the department will be responsible for the fare notification, the operation and maintenance of the vehicles will be borne by the municipality. The running cost per km will be considerably lower when compared to petrol/diesel powered vehicles. The fleet of rickshaws have a uniform colour code and are painted with main tourist attractions in the city, including the beach, Aayi Mandapam, and Gandhi Thidal. They will have GPS facility to link to an exclusive mobile app with QR code for easy trip booking. The link will also be connected to a monitoring centre at the Transport Deportment. The vehicles will be under the control of the municipality, and the local body will work out the revenue sharing formula.
The Hindu
01-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Electric bus operations set to boost public transport in Puducherry
With six electric buses arriving in Puducherry last month and 19 more expected by July-end, public transport is likely to get a boost. These buses will likely make the city cleaner and greener. Puducherry is late in buying electric buses, compared with the other Southern States. The measure is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the government-owned Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), and its full transition to electric buses for its operations in urban and mofussil areas by the year-end. The Puducherry government will operate these buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) Scheme of the Union government. Gross cost contract 'The 25 buses (10 AC and 15 non-AC) are 9-metre vehicles. They will be run on the gross cost contract in the public-private partnership mode. The ₹23-crore seed funding from the Smart City project will be used for the Behind the Meter (BTM) facility, and a major portion of the sum will paid on a per kilometre basis. The buses will ply on 15 tentative routes within urban areas. They will be operated on a viability gap funding model,' says Transport Commissioner A.S. Sivakumar. The charging infrastructure is being readied by Evey Trans Private Limited, a subsidiary of Olectra Greentech, on a 25,000-square foot site belonging to the Puducherry government on Maraimalai Adigal Salai. Official sources say the operator has to bear the cost of hiring drivers, electricity, and maintenance for 12 years. With a single charge, a bus can run up to 200 km. It takes around six hours to charge a bus. The battery-operated buses have a life of 6-7 years. Demand sent to the Centre While the 25 electric buses will ply on designated routes in the urban areas, the Puducherry government has planned to procure 75 more buses under the PM-ebus Sewa scheme. It has submitted the demand to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). According to an official, 'Puducherry plans to run 50 buses on inter-city as well as mofussil routes and the rest on the existing urban routes. Of the 75 AC buses, 50 will be 12 metres long. They will be deployed on inter-city routes. The rest of the buses (9 metres) will be deployed in urban areas.' The official adds, 'States or cities will be responsible for running the bus services and paying the operators. The Central government will support the bus operations by giving subsidies to the extent specified in the scheme.' Under the scheme, the Central government will provide ₹24 per km for a bus deployed on inter-city routes and mofussil routes and ₹23 per km for a bus in urban areas. The Puducherry administration will bear the rest.
