Heathrow

Embassy

Manyata Tech Park

BBMP

Bengaluru

KJ George

Patel

India Operation

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

Metro

Trinity Metro Station

KR Puram Metro Station

Indian Institute of Science

IISC

Heathrow Airport

Delhi-based firm that runs the pod system inhas partnered withgroup; will take network toJayant Sinha, the junior minister for civil aviation, told a rapt audience in Jamshedpur on Tuesday that his government was toying with the idea of ‘air rickshaws’ to tide over traffic gridlocks in the country. Sinha was speaking at the City Data for India Conclave 2018 (jointly organized by Tata Steel and Confederation Indian Industries) and did not specify a timeframe for the air rickshaws, which are basically drones that can transport people.Sinha’s ideas may sound futuristic, but compared to Bengaluru, he’s a dinosaur. Bengaluru’s sci-fi future is already up there. On Wednesday, the(BruhatMahanagara Palike’s) received tenders from the sole bidder for its ambitious pod taxi system.Smart Personal Rapid Transit Systems Pvt. Ltd. (which was incorporated in New Delhi), in association with Embassy Property Developments Pvt Ltd (in which Bengaluru development ministeris a partner) and Ultra PRT Ltd has bid for the project.Dhruv Manoj, SPRT’s Director for, said: “We have submitted the tender document today (January 10 was the last date). We have also done a Detailed Project Report based on the stretch identified by the BBMP. We will start the work in six months if it is finalized by the cabinet. We estimate that the project will be completed in 30 months from the day we start,” he said.SPRT has also deposited Rs 7.5 crore with the BBMP as security amount for participating in the bidding process. In its tender requirement, BBMP had asked for a minimum amount of Rs 5 crore per year from the bidder.Patel came on board SPRT as a director on December 12, 2017 as per data available on thewebsite. He told Bangalore Mirror that Embassy developers was a part of the consortium bidding for the project. He added that he was thankful to KJ George and the BBMP special commissioner for the speed with which they are pushing the project. “This is the only place where work has progressed in just four months,” he said.Pod taxis, also known as personal rapid transit (PRT) system, are miniaturized versions, if you will, of Metro; they carry up to 6 people in a driverless, cable-car like cocoon (known as a pod). The company has claimed that pod fares will be cheaper than that of app-based taxis.SPRT is keen to build the network -- identified by BBMP -- between UjwalaStation in Whitefield andwith a total route length of 35 km and 43 stations in the first phase. There will be 12 major PRT stations along this stretch — Agram, Domlur, Hotel Leela Palace, BEML, HAL Airport, Ferns City (Marathahalli), Gandhi Nagar, Brookefield, Parimala Sunridge, Nallurahalli, Virginia Mall and Whitefield. The pod system will act as a feeder to Metro.Patel told Bangalore Mirror that in Phase-II, the government has asked for a pod network from Baiyappanahalli Metro Station to Nagawara Metro Station; which will then go to Manyata Tech Park and connect with. The total length of this track will be 28 km and it will have 38 stations. “It will connect surrounding areas too,” Patel said.Embassy developers owns Manyata Tech Park and one of its flagship projects, Embassy Lake Terraces, is coming up near Hebbal. Both will benefit immensely from the pod network, if and when it materializes.A total of 2,100 pods will run the stretch of 70 km at 30 pods/km. Each pod will be 3 m long and 2.2 m wide and will accommodate six passengers.“Unlike Metro or monorail, pods will not run at fixed intervals. They are like taxis parked in the station. Any commuter who wants to reach a particular station can feed the information, pay and board the pod,” Patel explained.The BBMP estimates to build the infrastructure at Rs 50 crore/km and has asked the bidders to finance the project themselves; it will be built under the “design, build, finance, operate and transfer system”. The concession period will be for 20 years.The BBMP had proposed the pod taxi network in May and the feasibility report was carried out by the Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) at the) which gave the green signal for the project.SPRT has a tie-up with Fairwood which runs the pod network at. It has a 7-km stretch there and runs more than 200 pod taxis since 2011. In June 2017, it bagged a contract for a PRT system in Ajman, UAE.