Transport council meet to discuss reforms today

Union minister Nitin Gadkari yesterday said transport ministers from all states will discuss seamless transport across state borders and digital payments in state road transport undertakings, among other issues, at the 38th meeting of the Transport Development Council here today.

The Transport Development Council is the highest body to advise the Centre on matters relating to roads and road transport. The Union minister of Road Transport and Highways is its chairman and the council meets at least once a year."We will discuss issues like public transport reforms, the status of Vahan and Sarathi sites under the Transport National Register, seamless transport across state borders, identification of locations that have a record of large numbers of crashes, digitalisation of payments, inter-State transfer of private vehicles and citizen facilitation," Gadkari told PTI via phone yesterday.

The director of Transport for London (TfL) -- the local body responsible for the transport system in Greater London -- will also participate in the meeting via video conferencing, along with other experts in the transport sector.

"The Council meeting will give an opportunity to the state transport ministers to get exposure on the new and



upcoming reforms in the transport sector. There will be a discussion on public transport reforms and bus ports," Gadkari said.

In this meeting, the ministers will also discuss All India Tourist Bus Permits. In view of the apprehensions raised by certain states about loss of revenue, it was decided to place the matter before the Group of Transport Ministers of States.The council will also be apprised about the status regarding Vahan and Saarthi sites, which have unified database of all registered vehicles and driving licences in the country, under the Transport National Register.

The Register comprises 21.2 crore vehicle registration records and 11.5 crore driving license records covering all states and union territories.Regarding road safety, the ministry had asked states to prepare action plans to reduce fatalities from road accidents.

In addition to this, the Supreme Court appointed Road Safety Committee had also directed states to prepare target- oriented action plans. In the meeting, all states and union territories will furnish the action taken by them in this regard. The status of black spots -- locations where a large number of accidents have been reported -- will also be reviewed.