Urban transport: Curbing mobility

Why land use and urban transport must tango

As urban commute continues to be more nightmarish with each passing day, the factors are too obvious, but what can our newer cities learn from the chaos that bad planning has wrought upon India’s largest cities? Instead of reducing distances and commuters, attempts have been on increasing them. Janaki Krishnamoorthi analyses how deft use of land can bring about a stable and sustainable urban solution through reducing commute and a more comprehensive transit-oriented development of urban infrastructure.

When experts analyse the vehicle industry, they ignore bicycles. Despite being the world’s second largest market (after China), India’s production of the humble biped declined by as much as 8 per cent last year. Beyond the ambitions that have burgeoned among the Indian middle class, distances have only increased in urban commute. But believe it or not, cycles are overtaxed-the government has been oblivious of the need to incentivise bicycles. On the contrary, the bicycle industry has been steadily pushed out-literally.

The Union Ministry of Urban Development could take a lead in providing such incentives to encourage bicycle commute. Sure enough, it will at best be an evolutionary task. Traffic congestion, chaos, noise and air pollution, accidents, pot-holed roads, etc, have become part and parcel of Indian cities. As a result, commuting to workplace, schools/colleges, or even recreational spots and back has become increasingly difficult, time consuming and arduous. Currently, India has 120 million vehicles, and it is steadily growing. In 2010, outdoor air pollution contributed to more than 620,000 premature deaths. Each year, 135,000 people die in traffic accidents on Indian roads.

KV Krishna Rao, Professor-Transportation Systems Engineering and Head, Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, who has conducted several research and consultancy studies in travel demand modelling, pavement design, and traffic engineering says: "Urban sprawl is causing increase in trip lengths and providing transport infrastructure, including public transport, is getting costlier. Inadequate public transport system has resulted in a shift to private modes of transport leading to alarming increase in motorisation and traffic congestion. Unorganised intermediate public transport is another reason for increased modal shift to private cars. Income disparity is also bringing in mobility divide."

As urban migration continues to grow at alarming rate-India’s urban population is projected to grow to about 473 million in 2021 and 820 million by 2051, as against 285 million in 2001-cities must gear up to meet the mobility needs of future populations.

The causes are not hard to identify. Rapid population growth in urban areas, consequent sprawling of cities, increasing travel distances, explosive growth of motor vehicles, limited road space, and poorly designed road networks are all contributing factors.

At present (as per 2011 census), the urban population in India is about 31 per cent and is expected to reach 41 per cent by 2030. Existing measures to improve urban transport have been focused on moving vehicles faster by increasing road space. Urban development on the other hand is often characterised by separation of land uses like residential from commercial. These two trends have led to urban sprawl and increased trip lengths. Developing quality public transport with a wide coverage also becomes difficult and expensive, leading to more and more people turning to private vehicles.

Transportation Analyst Sudhir Badami is on the Government of Maharashtra’s Steering Committee and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) Technical Advisory Committee on Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) for Mumbai as also on Research and MIS Committee of Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority. He emphatically contends that growth in motorisation and poor public transport are the root causes behind traffic congestion. "Growth in number of personal motorised vehicle usage with the advent of LPG – Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation – making cars a necessity in mind and reality and not keeping it as a luxury, talking of public transport but doing precious little for its development are the major reasons. Inadequacy of road space is attributed to congestion levels though in reality, the growth rate of motorised personal vehicles is several times more than the growth rate of road space."

Rapid motorisation inevitably shifts travel from the most sustainable modes-public transport and non-motorised ones (walking/cycling) to private vehicles. According to United Nations Habitat Study 2011, by 2050, the number of motor vehicles worldwide will reach 2.6 billion, majority of which will be in developing countries, especially in India, China, and other Asian countries.

In order to reverse the course, industry experts of the opinion that India must take several new measures like linking land development and transport, enhancing public transport systems, multimodal integration, encouraging walking and cycling etc.

Planned mobility

It is not that the governments and development authorities are unaware of the situation and the action required. Several measures have already been initiated. Indian government’s National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) 2006 accepting the need for integrated transport and land-use development, prioritising the use of public transport etc is one of them.

"Transport is a state subject but NUTP was formulated since a policy guideline was needed for the entire country and significant investments would have to be made which could come only from the Central government," avers Badami. "State level Urban Transport Policy must be worked out by every state, keeping basic principles common. Heavy investments into infrastructure are considered synonymous with progress and hence have political leverage. Therefore, state governments tend to defer enacting such a policy, which will have to be for sustainable transport from all angles."

The CMP initiative: However, many aspects of NUTP have been already launched successfully, says Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). "These include preparation of Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), launch of mass/public transport systems including BRTS and other bus-based systems, metro rails, setting up of service level benchmarks for urban transport systems, training and capacity building of states, parastatals and local bodies, numerous research studies etc. The march is on." MoUD recently empanelled consultants who could be engaged by states/cities to prepare CMPs. Up to 80 per cent of the cost of preparation of CMPs is reimbursed by MoUD to the states/cities.

Thirteen cities-Tumkur, Davangere, Shimoga, Agartala, Chandigarh, Gangtok, Guwahati, Shillong, Bhatinda, Patiala, Pathankot, Jalandhar and Kalyan-Dombivili-have already prepared their CMPs. In 18 other cities they are under preparation. Pilot projects are also underway in Hubli-Dharwad, Naya Raipur, Indore etc. "But we are keen to move pan-India and this is going to happen soon enough. For instance, the bus funding programme, which was confined to the 65 major cities is proposed to be extended to all cities and towns for 2013-14," reveals Krishna.

Another major initiative in this direction has been the Comprehensive Transport Study of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), by MMRDA with Lea Associates of Canada. In this study, conducted between 2005 and 2008, population and employment in MMR progressively up to 2031 were projected and on that basis travel pattern estimated. "The study revealed that at present more than 12 million trips are made during peak periods and this will double by 2031 when MMR population is expected to rise from 21 to 39 million," reveals Dilip Kawathkar, Joint Project Director (PR), MMRDA. "Based on the forecasted travel demand, we will be designing the transport network. The comprehensive transport plan recommends around 450 km of metro network, around 200 km of additional suburban tracks and around 1,400 km of high order road network. MMRDA is planning to have different self-contained growth centres, reduce the need to travel and where necessary, ensure that the travel time within MMR does not exceed one hour. Public transport will be given priority". The plan will be implemented in three phases up to 2031 at an estimated cost of over Rs 250,000 crore. MMRDA has also been involved in developing new growth centres like Bandra-Kurla Complex and several transport projects in Mumbai including the metro and monorails.

Land link

There are two ways of using land development to improve transport. One is to develop concentrated centres/mix-use centres containing housing, work places, retail, leisure activities and services within an acceptable walking distance of major public transport nodes, such as railway stations and bus routes. Within these centres, people are more likely to walk or cycle for short trips and use public transport for longer journeys. Second option is to concentrate high density, mixed use, accessible centres along major public transport corridors.

Transit-oriented development: "Mixed land use adopted worldwide is a great idea. Designing built environments with activities performed within walkable distances is part of sustainable urban planning" avers Rao. "Here we are basically trying to reduce the need to travel, reducing in turn the congestion on roads. At present, the urban transport planners are implementing the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD) in a big way in many cities. In TOD higher densities (FSI of over 4) are allowed around transit stations with a mixed land use pattern. Implementing TOD schemes with 90 per cent transit area coverage and appropriate last mile connections will be a sustainable solution to our urban transportation problems."

Seconds Pradeep Kapoor, Secretary General, Institute of Town Planners India (ITPI), Delhi: "TOD is the order of the day as it means, along the mass transport corridors mixed land uses are provided to reduce the workplace oriented trips, as workplace and residences are close to each other. This reduces the use of personalised vehicles on the roads."

Mixed land use: MoUD favours the adoption of TOD concept as one of the cornerstones of the CMPs. "Mixed land use should be encouraged but only as part of TOD, with due attention to the availability of the required infrastructure. Moreover, TOD/CMP should focus on mass/public transport systems. While mixed land use is desirable, it should be attempted in an appropriate framework and not in isolation," states Krishna.

Kawathkar too points out that mixed land use should not be attempted in isolation. "Mixed land-uses concept causes conflicting interests and hence creating systems to resolve them should also form an important part of the planning and development."

Mixed land uses are already in existence in some Indian cities though in varying degree. A recent addition is the hill city of Lavasa being developed near Pune by HCC. A senior official from HCC elaborates, "Lavasa is a typical example where the mixed land use concept is being implemented effectively. Here, residential and commercial spaces are within walking distance. Among the old cities, Chandigarh is another typical example, where each sector is self-contained with residences, school, market to hospitals and workplaces. In Dwarka, too, though it is only residential, every sector has schools, shopping complexes with hospitals close by. The mixed land use is a good concept but the challenge lies in how to implement them in existing cities."

Several analytical models of urban land use involving some consideration for transport have been developed over time, like concentric, polycentric, hybrid, cellular etc. "These models are based on the socio-economic and physical conditions of a city. If we have an efficient mass transport system, polycentric model may be functional. But in Indian cities, generally concentric model works as we are a close knit society and this needs less investment on infrastructure development," explains Kapoor.

IIT-B’s Rao, while recommending polycentric model for Indian cities adopting the mixed land use concept, says that in the land use transport model, despite substantial research, there has been little success in actual implementation. He adds, "In my opinion, instead of an integrated land use transport model, a land use scenario-based transport demand model would work well for our cities. The land use scenario-based comprehensive transport study carried out recently by MMRDA is a good example."

Public transport paradox

World over, public transport system is considered more sustainable as it occupies less road space and causes less pollution per passenger-km than personal vehicles. Until recently, the main function of public transport in India has been to meet the needs of the less affluent population. But now it is being looked at as a possible solution to ease traffic congestion and environmental pollution, which means developing new modes of transport that would attract private vehicle users.

There is a wide spectrum of public transport technologies-high capacity, but high cost technologies like metro and monorail systems and low capacity bus systems and a range of intermediate possibilities like buses on dedicated lanes, elevated sky bus, waterways, BRTS etc.

"Focus should be towards quickly implementable options of mass public transport that can be economical and least polluting," recommends Badami. "BRTS meets these criteria and it will give options to personal motorised vehicle users, while catering to the needs of less affluent in the society. But at the national level, capital intensive projects like metro rail and monorail are being pursued. The nation does not have the necessary funds to build high capacity metro rail which will be of some use to public at large in every city. On the other hand, BRTS costing one-tenth to one-twentieth of metro rail costs can be put in place in all the cities."

India’s first and largest BRT called Janmarg is in place in Ahmedabad, built to ease city’s mounting traffic congestion. However, experts say that little attention has been paid to the physical integration of BRT stops with surrounding neighbourhoods or to urban development possibilities.

Critical challenges

The road ahead, entailing a makeover of urban transport poses several challenges – from formulating a proper strategy, enhancing technical and administrative capacity for its implementation, coordination across various levels to raising funds for implementing the projects and maintaining them.

Inevitably, private sector participation would be crucial as the state governments and their agencies may not have the necessary financial resources or the expertise. In other words, Public Private Partnership (PPP) models will be the need of the hour. Private players would be open to the partnership provided the projects are viable, says the HCC official. "Government should realise that their social responsibility cannot be fulfilled by private players. So, firstly the project should be viable to the private player. Secondly, the partnership should be honoured with shared responsibilities. While the government takes on certain responsibilities like acquiring land, providing all administrative clearances, security etc, the private party would bring in the money and complete the project with quality and on time." Evidently sustainable urban transport should be the way forward for Indian cities. Will the government and other agencies rise to the occasion?