while planning the Ahmedabad- Gandhinagar metro project one thing that must be kept in mind is how to lure people to use the metro.
At a time when Gujarat government’s urban development department is working overtime to start the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro Rail project work, a presentation on Financing Railways System: Model of Hong Kong made by Prof Wing-tat Hung, could be a reference point.
Prof Hung from Hong Kong Polytechnic University who is in Ahmedabad to participate in a conference at Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), said that while planning for the railway of a metro transport system one thing that must be kept in mind is how to lure people to use the metro.
He said, around 44% of the population of Hong Kong use different modes of public transport and around 5million of them use the metro daily.
Elaborating on the example of Hong Kong Metro, which is the only self sustaining metro project in the world, he said that a separate legislative corporation was formed in 1975 for it. Not only for the operation but also to work on prudent commercial principles, granting of development rights on land plots of metro stations, ensuring seamless development of stations to facilitate ridership and so on.
The corporation officials negotiate with colonies and land owners in areas near the stations to purchase and construct public housing in high rise buildings so that density remains high near the metro stations.
“In Hong Kong, property sale and rentals profit cover capital investment of the railway lines and fare income covers the operating cost,” he said while addressing students at CEPT on Thursday. He said, high development is planned near the station, including a cinema hall, sports complex, residential projectsso that more people use the metro.
“Also, stations have multiple entry points to give access to people from different areas around the station. When development of area around station and development of station are planned in Hong Kong, we think how to suck people in,” he said.
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