New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is planning to provide a door-to-door mobility solution to its customers to deal with the final-meal connectivity issues, Theprint has learned. This is the first type of initiative. After the new facility is launched at the end of this week, passengers can book an auto rickshaw or bike for pickup and drop-off services while buying metro tickets through Delhi Metro’s mobile app, Momentum 2.0.
To increase the first and final-mile connectivity, the Delhi Metro has participated with Rapido.
Once a commuter selects the door-to-door service, the app will recommend the nearest metro stations at both ends of the journey and suggest the most suitable mode of transport-to-bike or auto-uninterrupted connectivity. An DMRC official, which was not named, said a DMRC official, “The app will automatically book a bike or auto for a pickup to the nearest metro station. Commuter will boost for the final-meal connectivity just before reaching its destination metro station,” an officer who did not give the name.
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If the origin and destination of a passenger is within a walk from the nearest metro station, it will not suggest the first and final-meal booking options.
The pickup from the destination metro station will be booked on an estimated travel time basis for the entire journey. However, it will not be responsible for road congestion or metro delay while booking auto/bike for the destination, sources say.
“Booking is done on the basis of the approximate journey time of the journey. A computer movement will not be tracked during this process,” the official said.
The new facility in the metro ticketing app is aimed at providing easy travel options to passengers and will also help using DMRC travel data for root optimization, train schedule management and other reforms.
While DMRC’s daily riders have increased over the last few years – by increasing about 71 million daily passenger trips in February this year – such disinterest is likely to further promote the use of metro.
While the Delhi Metro has become the transport lifeline of Delhi and the National Capital Region, convenient and inexpensive final-meal connectivity is a major challenge for passengers. Transport experts highlight the need to integrate all methods of travel with metro in cities and ensure that the first and final-meal connectivity services are inexpensive.
E. Madhu, CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) chief scientist of Transport Planning and Environment Division, emphasized that improving first and final-mile connectivity will increase the use of metro significantly. He said, “Many passengers rely on individual vehicles, especially for daily traffic due to lack of two-wheelers, skilled and inexpensive final-meal connectivity options,” he said.
Citing a 2015 study on sustainable transport done by CSIR-CRRI, he said, “We found that the metro users spend more than 50 percent of their total travel costs and over 50 percent on the final-mile options. Even today, passengers will have to pay a significant amount for the final-mile journey. Need to find solutions to make the final-mile journey more.”
(Edited by Ridififa Kabir)