The Delhi government plans to hold discussions with cab aggregators like Ola and Uber to explore resuming shared taxi rides discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a broader push to reduce vehicular pollution, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Friday, as the Capital’s air quality plunged into the ‘very poor’ category.
She said the government is in continuous dialogue with stakeholders to prioritise shared mobility while planning to increase the number of women drivers and integrate private electric vehicles into the city’s taxi service ecosystem.
The focus is “on ensuring that fewer vehicles can safely, conveniently, and affordably transport more passengers”, Ms. Gupta said, adding that it is essential to reducing congestion and pollution. The CM said shared transport and electric mobility are being actively promoted because reducing vehicles on the roads is critical for effective pollution control.
Infrastructure upgrade
Ms. Gupta also reviewed the status of vehicle fitness testing infrastructure in the city. She said the fitness centre at Jhuljhuli is operational and currently tests around 70,000 vehicles annually, while the Burari facility is being upgraded. “Two more centres at Nand Nagri and Tehkhand are expected to become operational by March next year. Together, these four centres will be able to conduct fitness tests for nearly 2.5 to 3 lakh commercial vehicles annually,” an official statement said.
