The government has come up with a new bill in the parliament regarding proper management of public transportation in Kathmandu Valley through an integrated system.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth has registered the bill in the lower house under the heading Kathmandu Valley Public Transportation Authority in what the bill proposes for the formation of an authority to look after public transportation inside the Kathmandu valley. Similarly, the authority will formulate short term and long term policies and strategies for the betterment of public transportation inside the valley.
According to the bill, the authority will be responsible for planning, managing and operating the public transportation inside the valley.Likewise, apart from making public transportation accessible, reliable and safe in the valley, it will also fix routes for public transportation and set standards for vehicles, ending the current cartel in route permit distribution.
In the proposed bill, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City mayor will work as the coordinator for the Public Transportation Council along with mayors from Lalitpur Metropolitan City and Bhaktapur Municipality as members of the council.
The CEO for the authority will be appointed from transportation sector with prior experience of working in such sectors for at least a decade. He/she will be shouldered with the responsibility for executing the administered works of the authority. Currently, Department of Transport Management (DoTM) is the sole body in the nation working for the management of the public transportation and policies formation. Certain portion of amount will be taken from public transportation fare as royalty to run the authority.