Urban transport expert Pranjali Deshpande said the focus needed to be on procuring more vehicles without delay and ensuring reliable service. “Free rides may result in increased ridership. However, primarily, more buses are needed and the service has to be good. Parties are talking about freebies, but not about prioritising public transport. These are the same parties that removed the BRTS,” she said.She said the state govt should try to implement measures to ensure users of private transport don’t find it easy to drive/ride their vehicles. “It is only then that people will transition to public transportation, which is not happening at present. The govt should know that the best way to increase ridership in the Pune Metro is to ensure proper last-mile connectivity,” Deshpande added.Harshad Abhyankar of Save Pune Traffic Movement said free public transport had disadvantages. “Politicians should focus on providing a minimum of 55 PMPML buses per lakh population served and adjust the rates to ensure good ridership. Affordable and available public transport is what the city needs. Rates of the Metro, PMPML and rickshaws should be coordinated,” he told TOI.Meanwhile, programme director of NGO Parisar Ranjit Gadgil said the idea was a game changer. “It decisively rejects the long-held notion that public transport — specifically PMPML — is a loss-making ‘white elephant’. Instead it recognises the utility’s critical role in addressing traffic congestion. The idea explicitly acknowledges the direct costs of congestion — fuel wastage and man-hour losses — caused by excessive private vehicles. These costs (Rs900 crore) far exceed the Rs300 crore required to improve public transport, beginning with fare-free services.”He further said the calculation does not even account for indirect costs — borne by citizens — such as air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and road accidents arising from over 15 lakh vehicles in the city. “Evidence from Tamil Nadu already indicates a positive social and economic outcome from fare-free public transport. In short, the idea may not be another freebie, but something transformative, inclusive and sustainable,” Gadgil told TOI.However, autorickshaw unions were heavily critical. General secretary of the Rickshaw Panchayat Union Nitin Pawar questioned Ajit Pawar’s statement vis-à-vis employment of autorickshaw drivers.“We have a long-standing demand to stop the open permit system for autos in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. People will opt for buses and Metro if free rides are introduced. It will leave auto drivers high and dry. While the open permit system should be stopped first, the state govt should put a limitation now on the number of private vehicles in the city — while also controlling prices of CNG. Autorickshaw drivers are in a bad financial condition, but no thought is being given to them,” he added.Similar sentiments were expressed by president of Baghtoy Rickshawaala Sanghatna Keshav Kshirsagar and the president of Indian Gig Workers Front.PMP Pravasi Manch’s Sanjay Shitole said, “The PMPML earns a revenue of around Rs2 crore daily from ticket sales. If rides are free, won’t it put additional pressure on the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations? Is there a specific vision to implementing the idea?”
