The Hindu Business Line : Moving the masses

THE MOST COMMON image of Mumbai is usually of a suburban train with people swarming all over it. Not just Mumbai, this is the reality of Urban India whose population level is expected to rise to 300 million by 2011, or 32 per cent of the total from 27 per cent now. The pressure of population concentration in cities will tell on the saturated transport network. The best that can be said of the prescription — the urban transport policy released last week — is that it is better late than never.

Spreading cities and inadequate urban mass transport have led to a rapid rise in the use of personal vehicles, leading to problems of congestion on the roads. This needs to be corrected. Else, the productivity of the people will be affected, as they may spend more time and energies travelling to and from work. That the answer is a Mass Rapid Transport System, rail- or road-based, is well known. But the real problem is the cost. For, most solutions involve costs that commuters are generally unwilling to pay. A major problem with urban transport is its inherent imbalance: Huge volumes moved at peak hours, and gross under-utilisation at other times continue to put a question mark on the economic viability of the transport systems. Beyond talking of fair pricing, dedicated taxes and government support, the policy has little to suggest.

Urban transport in India is mainly road based. But, according to studies, buses can optimally carry 10,000 peak hour peak direction trips (phpdt). When traffic density on a corridor exceeds this level, it calls for a rail-based MRTS or high-capacity buses on dedicated `bus-ways'. Or, better still, a combination of the two, using the hub-and-spoke model of buses radiating from train stations. Buses can also do with a re-design. Built on truck chassis, they have high cruising speed and low acceleration — quite unsuitable for low-speed, stop-and-go urban operations. Ideally, they must have low floor, low cruising speed, wide doors and high acceleration/de-acceleration; they will consume less energy and pollute less. Other modes of transport such as the underground, skyrail or monorail are not just costly to set up but can involve such intractable problems as land acquisition.

A significant aspect of the latest policy is its emphasis on non-motorised transport (NMT) systems, favoured in most low-income countries. Cycle is the most popular NMT in India especially for the large working class. As cycles intrude into the space meant for motorised vehicles leading to accidents and wastage of fuel, they need special corridors, as the policy rightly points out. Also lighter cycles with gears and tubeless tyres must be designed for longer trip lengths. Accounting for 15-35 per cent of the peak hour NMT, the cycle may be the ideal feeder to rail/bus stations. Motorised two-wheelers, whose use is rising exponentially, must also be encouraged for this role. But the policy is largely silent on them. Needed is a transport system that provides all residents mobility and access to safe and eco-friendly modes of transport. That can only be a combination of various modes. The responsibility for this can perhaps be vested in one authority that can create an integrated transport system.

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