Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) The national Common Mobility Card that will soon allow seamless and convenient public travel across different modes of transport, including trains and buses, was launched here Tuesday.

The rechargeable pre-paid card, named More, works on the same principle as the Delhi Metro card and was launched by Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath at the Urban Mobility India (UMI) conference-cum-exhibition here.

According to the ministry, More can be used on various modes of transportation like metro, bus, train, taxi and ferry. It can also be used to pay toll across the country.

“The challenges of resource crunch and service delivery have to be met, to provide better transportation methods for the growing urban population. Development has to precede growth,” Kamal Nath said.

The implementation will be partly funded by central government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

“The card would benefit public transport organisations by significantly increasing overall efficiency, providing control and better management of tariff structure, reducing cash handling and hence lesser pilferage and fraud,” said Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, officer on special duty (urban transport) in the urban development ministry.

As per the ministry, an agreement has been signed with Jaipur while negotiations with civic agencies in Karnataka, Bangalore and Bhopal to get on board are at an advanced stage.

“We are in talks with DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corp) and DTC (Delhi Transport Corp) and will soon rope in the private operators as well,” added Lohia.

The UMI is an annual event of the urban development ministry to provide a platform for exchanging information and ideas on sustainable mobility.