The humble autorickshaw will soon appear in a new, high-tech avatar on the city's roads. Under the Common Man's Radio Taxi project, Global Positioning System (GPS)-based technology will offer better services to commuters. Come Saturday, they can have autorickshaws at their beck and call. They can call up the control room or send an SMS to hire the vehicles. What’s more, they can even get a receipt for the charges they pay. It is a pilot project for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi that will be launched in Pune by the Road Transport Authority (RTA) and the Delhi-based Indivelop Urban Transport Private Limited. R Anand, chief executive officer of Indivelop said, “As part of the project, autorickshaw owners and drivers will have a biocryptic registration with serial number, reflectors for easy visibility during night, alerts for lapsed permits, PUC, insurance and tax collection. The GPS-based system will be launched by the Urban Development Ministry on Saturday," said an RTA official. Anand said that it is a scientific management of autorickshaws wherein the movement of autos will be monitored by the control room and there will be very little scope of overcharging. It will benefit commuters, especially the elderly and women. “The project aims at providing safer mode of transport,” Anand said. He said passengers can swipe their credit cards for making payments as the refurbished autos will be equipped with many facilities, like newspapers and water bottles, for the comfort and safety of passengers. An officer from the RTA office confirmed that the project would be implemented in Pune. “As part of the project, autorickshaw owners and drivers will get a personal accident policy and a dress code. They will get health check ups and a corpus fund for social needs like education and marriage. Their vehicles will also be painted annually,” he said. The scheme will be extended to 100 autorickshaw owners in the city by January 2009, Anand said. Once implemented, the scheme will help in reducing parking space and avoiding congestion near bus-stands and railway stations. It is expected to help lower the pollution levels and save fuel as well.
