To streamline the public transport service between Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali, the Chandigarh administration has drafted a plan to run around 1,200 AC and non-AC radio taxis and 1,500 LPG autorickshaws soon.

It has been agreed upon with Haryana and Punjab transport departments to introduce 200 AC taxis and equal number of non-AC taxis. The taxis would be white with the insignia of the open hand. The AC cab service at Rs 15 per km is already on schedule, while the non-AC service at Rs 8 per km is going to start soon.

Secretary, State Transport Authority, Vandana Disodia, said everything had been finalised and the service would be started in a day or two. As soon as they got the draft policy, permission would be given to non-AC cabs.

A decision in this regard has also been taken at a meeting attended by the State Transport Commissioner, Haryana, the Director Transport, Chandigarh, and the GM of Haryana Roadways to countersign the permits of autorickshaws.

The number of autorickshaws to be countersigned by the respective states and the UT has been fixed at 500 each. The administration also plans to introduce radio autorickshaw service, wherein dialling a four-digit number would bring eco-friendly autorickshaws, fitted with the GPS system, on your doorstep for Rs 5 per km. The Centre has given its nod for 100 AC Volvo buses and 60 non-AC buses for Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Government Transport Workers Union yesterday protested against the administration’s move of entering into an agreement with neighbouring states. Raj Kumar, general secretary of the union, said the administration had shown discrepancies while signing the agreement with the Haryana government.

“As per the agreement with Punjab, no state-owned bus would ply on the Chandigarh route beyond the ISBT-17 or ISBT-43. But Haryana buses have been allowed to ply on city routes,” he said.