Govt formulates policy for urban transit corridors

The Union urban development ministry has formulated a policy framework for transit-oriented development (TOD), which promotes living in proximity to mass urban transit corridors such as metros, monorail and bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors. This new urban design and planning in the form of TOD is being incentivised by the ministry under two more initiatives — metro policy and green urban mobility scheme — which will be discussed with states and UTs for taking them on board. TOD has been mandatory under the new Metro policy, while it has been made an essential reform under the Green urban mobility scheme, and is put on priority for recei-ving central assistance.
States and UTs are required to incorporate TOD in the master and development plans of cities besides identifying ‘influence zones’ from transit corridors for tapping revenue streams. Though all states are drafting their own TOD policy, the new policy framework by the urban development ministry is expected to provide basic guidelines for finalising it. Development, or redevelopment, in a TOD zone will be incentivised by providing significantly higher floor area ratio.