Yesterday, Karnataka released its 5-year Clean Mobility Policy, but like other recent EV policies in India, it disappointingly lacks concrete support for city or long-distance buses. All the eggs seem to be in the basket of personal vehicles.
Cars below ₹25 lakhs will have no road or registration tax – likely an attempt to encourage smaller car purchases while taxing the wealthy more.
Last-connectivity will now be responsibility of EV-rickshaws which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you see it. Current auto-rickshaws are major contributors to air and noise pollution, an issue this new policy aims to tackle.
However, this would reduce the involvement of urban transport systems like BMTC in providing connectivity. I say this confidently based on another paragraph in the document.
Page 10 states that routes underserved by BMTC will now be open to private EV operators. The details are still unclear, and I’ll wait for more information, but it seems the government is distancing itself by not providing seamless connectivity through its bus fleet.
Also, it appears that the state transport services will assist private vehicles users facilities to swap and charge their batteries for last mile connectivity.
The document contains several other points that seem to encourage private vehicle use over public transport.
There are brief mentions of buses, but it’s unclear if any allocation is made to state transport agencies. Without it, the policy would contradict the “sustainable” goal it aims to achieve. Electric vehicles are not the solution for the problem our cities are facing. Sustainable transit is.
And, if you are interested to know how city buses helped China clean its air, and reduce congestion in its cities, refer to my previous article here: China’s EV strategy: The overlooked role of buses.
