The System of Urban Transportation in Contemporary India

Sanchari Mukhopadhyay
MA, 4th Semester, CSRD, JNU

The System of Urban Transportation in Contemporary India

[Todays India is becoming increasingly urbanized where the dynamics of population growth is coupled with the differential trends and components of urbanization which has inspired by better quality of life and are thus posing multiple stresses on the environment and human population as well. Census 2011 list reports 7,935 towns in India over an increase of 2,774 since the last Census of 2001. No. of urban agglomerations (UAs) has been increased to 475 in 2011 when it was 384 UAs in Census 2001 : 53 UAs each has a population of one million or above each (Million Plus UAs/Cities: the major urban centres in the country). However the transport system provides one of the important supporting systems of urbanization process which aggravates mobility, flexibility, productivity as well as accessibility. It thus forms the major part of city circulation system along with the external link system besides its internal sub-systems. The paper is based on available literature and secondary sources. The aim is twofold where the First part provides an overview of urban transport issues in India: vehicular growth and availability of transport infrastructure, crisis of public transport; market issues along with the demand-supply continuum; congestion, pollution, environmental, and welfare impact and also its negative externalities as contrast to the general positive notion in terms of the viewpoint of the poorer section of the society or a region. Following the thought of the National Commission on Urbanisation (NCU) which has noted that urban transport is the most important single component instrument in shaping urban development and urban living, the second part of the paper however tries to have an insight into the policies taken and the need for a cogent urban transport policy along with a sustainable planning which simply means the integration of economic, social and environmental approaches towards the development of the system.]

Introduction:
As per the 2011 census, India is home to about 1.25 billion people, making it one of the most densely populated areas of the world after China. It was also estimated that 70% of Indias population lies in rural areas. However urban India is fast growing but sometimes in a mere unplanned way and this unplanned growth has taken a toll on urban India, especially due to problems in the agricultural sector in rural India. Hence, the rising population due to migration from rural to urban cities as well as other factors have also contributed to the increase of slums in the cities and degradation of cities due to lack of planning has also taken place. Thus besides inadequate infrastructure, rising population rates as well as rising urban poverty are also major causes to the degradation of the cities. Hence the Government of India

has taken up the initiative to redevelop the urban towns and cities by developing infrastructure, municipal reforms and providing aid to the State Governments and the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), in order to develop urban India. Increasing urban population coupled with increased city size and increasing infrastructure demand has also led to a rapid growth in the urban travel demand in India. Rapid growth in the use of personal motor vehicle alongwith neglect of public transport, pedestrianisation and non-motorized modes are some of the specific characteristic of growing transportation sector of India which has resulted in increased congestion, air pollution, higher incidence of accidents as well as an increasing consumption of petroleum products aggravating the problem of pollution. Statistics says that 2-Wheelers and 3-Wheelers have grown faster than cars and buses from 2001-2005. India is having a road network of over 4.42 million kilometres (2.059 million miles) in 2011, making it one of the three largest road networks in the world. At 0.66 km of roads per square kilometre of land, the quantitative density of Indias road network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and far higher than that of China's (0.16) or Brazil's (0.20). However, qualitatively India's roads are a mix of modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads which is a sign of its developing economy. Adjusting to its larger population, India has less than 4 kilometres of roads per 1000 people, including all its paved and unpaved roads and in terms of high quality 4 or more lane highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometres of highways per 1000 people, as of 2010 which is one of the lowest road and highway densities in the world. However, in past the nation had not allocated much of its resources to build or maintain its road network while the thing has been started changing since 1995 with major efforts undertaken to modernize the country's road infrastructure. As of January 2012, India had completed and put in use over 17,000 kilometres of recently built 4 and 6-lane highways connecting many of its major manufacturing, commercial and cultural centres while it has bigger plans to spend approximately US$70 Billion by 2013 to modernize other highway network. However, according to 2009 estimates by Goldman Sachs, India will need to invest US$1.7 trillion on infrastructure projects before 2020 to meet its economic needs, a part of which would be in upgrading India's road network. The government of India is attempting to promote foreign investment in road projects by offering financial incentives. However, significant improvement in public transport, pedestrianisation and non-motorized modes are thus a very critical requirement for improving mobility in urban areas and thereby facilitating economic growth through accessibility. This can also help in improving the mobility of urban poor by improving accessibility to employment, education and health

facilities in the city core. Thus for urban planning it is necessary to give proper attention to an appropriate policy for integration of transportation and traffic plans with land use plans for every urban agglomeration. The National Urban Transport Policy thus has been formulated by the central government focusing on Move People Not Vehicle. This policy envisages integrated land use and transport planning, significant improvements in public transport, encouragement of non-motorized modes of travel, provision for capacity building in urban transport planning.

Objective of the Study:

The objective of the study is twofold where the First part provides an overview of urban transport issues in India: vehicular growth and availability of transport infrastructure, crisis of public transport; congestion, pollution, along with the increasing urban growth and also its negative externalities as contrast to the general positive notion in terms of the viewpoint of the poorer section of the society or a region. Following the thought of the National Commission on Urbanisation (NCU) which has noted that urban transport is the most important single component instrument in shaping urban development and urban living, the second part of the paper however tries to have an insight into the policies taken and the need for a cogent urban transport policy along with a sustainable planning which simply means the integration of economic, social and environmental approaches towards the development of the system.

Methodology:
The paper is based on available literature and secondary sources and also some database from available sources to back up the analysis. Thus this paper is more of a descriptive and explanatory which tries to find out some structural adjustment to the present scenario of urban growth and transportation system. Bars and pie diagrams has been used for data representation used in some analysis.

Data source:
1) www. IndiaStat.com, and 2) secondary data sources

Part I

Urban growth and the transportation system:

In India out of the total population of 1027 million, in 2001, about 285 million persons lived in urban areas while the figure rises to 377 million urban populations in 2011 out of the total population of 1210 million. Also it is interesting to know that 67% of total population growth in India in next 25 years is expected to take place in urban areas. Thus it is clear that urbanization is inevitable and India needs to improve its urban infrastructure and governance to improve productivity and create jobs for the poor. Mobility is one of the crucial elements in interregional adjustment too, particularly in fastgrowing countries such as India. Transport thus and important factor of mobility and accessibility to promote linkages between market and demand. 2001 No. of Towns No. of 5161 2011 7935 4041 Increase 2774 242

Statutory 3799

Towns No. Towns Urban Population 285 million 377,105,760 31.80 % of Census 1362 3894 2532

However, the distribution of urban population by city size widely varies and is skewed towards larger cities forming the pattern of top-heavy urbanization. The one specific feature as well as future trend of Indias urbanization is the increasing metropolitanization, that is, growth in the number and size of cities with a million plus population. There are 53 urban agglomerations in India with a population of 1 million or more as of 2011 against 35 in 2001. Though there is no doubt in the fact that positive correlation exist between urbanization and economic development but debate rises as to identify whether it is an index of development or distress of the overall urban population. Transport network is an important factor of urbanization process as it aggravated the economic viability of an urban centre and the interlinking develops efficient market as well as employment opportunities. Thus transport can induce economic growth, make it faster and functionally more capable. But the urban growth also induces more migration of people and more congestion on the city roads. The growth of vehicular traffic on roads has been far

greater than the growth of the highways, as a result of which the main arteries face capacity saturation. In larger cities private cars are occupying the bulk of the roads in response to a rising income where in other cities and towns huge influx of two wheelers and three wheelers are creating havoc through inadequate urban transport system by more and more personalized mode of transport. Thus increase in motorization is ultimately associated with urban congestion, environmental degradation and build-up of greenhouse gases, low-density development (commonly known as urban sprawl), and reduced transit use. Conventional public bus transport has been entirely replaced by more ubiquitous but less affordable paratransit, such as motorcycle taxis, rickshaws etc. Thus it has now become important to evaluate alternative public transport technologies especially in the context of city characteristics. The public transport options vary between low cost buses to high cost rail metros. But, the public transport systems in Indian cities have not been able to keep pace with the rapid and substantial increases of demand over the past few decades and bus services in particular have deteriorated while their relative output has been further reduced as passengers have turned to personalized modes and intermediate public transport. However the shape and characteristics of a city is very important in this context for selecting the appropriate mode of transport and capacity building is thus a very crucial factor in introducing and implementing public transport system on the Indian city roads.

Total no. of Registered Motor Vehicle in India ('000)

120000 100000 80000 Number 60000 40000 20000 0 Total Vehicle Two Wheelers

1951 306 27

1961 665 88

1971 1865 576

1981 5391 2618

1991 2001 2002 2003 2004 2009 21374 54991 58924 67007 72718 114951 14200 38556 41581 47519 51922 82402

Transport Network and Urban Development: a Positive Vicious Cycle

Economic Growth Investment in Infrastructure , thus Improving transport network

Improved Economies of Scale , higher income

Efficient production & easy access to Market

Increasing Connectivity

Communication become easier and available facilities become more accessible. Enable higher level of productivity and efficiency. Improved infrastructure attracts higher FDI. Employment opportunities in the Transport sector. Transport Network and Urban Problems: a Negative Vicious Cycle Constructi on of roads More Cars and more traffic

More cars and Traffic

More Roads

More Congestion

Displacement of urban poor. Transport development programs marginalize the urban poor, and city improvements are made at the expense of the most vulnerable citizens of society. Congestion. Pollution, degrading air quality. Degrading health of the urban population. Risk of Safety in Travel

Category-wise % distribution of Registered Motor Vehicles in the Metropolitans (As on march 2009)
multiaxle d/ articulate d vehicles and trucks and lories 2.98 3.08 1.33 2.38 3.84 3.29 1.06 1.35 3.64 3.06

cities Bengaluru Chennai Delhi Hyderaba d Indore Jaipur Mumbai Nagpur Patna Pune

light motor vehicles (goods) 2.62 2.38 1.97 5.88 1.75 0.86 3.06 1.66 0.00 8.82

Buses 0.60 1.18 0.65 0.85 0.67 1.36 0.78 0.41 0.97 1.11

Taxis 3.69 2.02 0.80 1.10 2.55 1.07 3.40 0.21 1.00 0.90

light motor vehicle (passenger ) 4.11 2.66 2.85 3.03 1.11 1.33 6.25 1.52 9.03 0.62

Two wheelers 64.54 69.12 61.04 68.48 77.35 74.71 54.35 84.25 68.93 72.07

Cars 19.23 17.10 28.60 15.58 9.85 11.79 28.93 7.06 12.12 11.26

Others 2.22 2.45 2.76 2.70 2.89 5.59 2.15 3.54 4.31 2.17

Source: calculated from the data from www. IndiaStat.com

Bengaluru
multiaxled / articulated vehicles and trucks and lories light motor vehicles (goods) 4% Buses Taxis light motor vehicle (passenger) 64% Two wheelers Cars Others

1% 2% 3% 19% 3% 4%

Delhi
1% 3% 1% 2% 1% 3% 28% multiaxled / aticulated vehicles and trucks and lories light motor vehicles (goods) Buses Taxis 61% light motor vehicle (passenger) Two wheelers Cars Others

Kolkata
0% 6% 0% 1% multiaxled / articulated vehicles and trucks and lories 6% 3% light motor vehicles (goods) Buses 54% 30% Taxis light motor vehicle (passenger) Two wheelers Cars and jeep

Mumbai
multiaxled / aticulated vehicles and trucks and lories 2% 1% 3% 1% 4% 29% 6% light motor vehicles (goods) Buses Taxis light motor vehicle (passenger) Two wheelers Cars Others

54%

2009 transport statistics shows that in every urban place 2wheelers and cars occupy bulk of the city roads where other modes are insignificant compared to them. Buses are very few generating crisis in public transport. This statistics is thus challenging the agenda of increasing mass transit system thought to be planned by the government. Situation is seen to be almost similar in both 2005 and 2009.

2005 Statistics of Motorized transport on Road

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Madurai Bhopal Pune Jaipur Hyderabad Ahmedabad Kolkata Mumbai Chennai Bengaluru Delhi 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

2009 Statistics of Motorized transport on Road

% Share of Non-Transport % Share of Transport

Madurai Bhopal Pune Jaipur Hyderabad Ahmedabad Kolkata Mumbai Chennai Bengaluru Delhi % Share of Non-Transport % Share of Transport

Cities Madurai Bhopal Pune Jaipur Hyderabad Ahmedabad Kolkata Mumbai Chennai Bengaluru Delhi

Growth of Transport 11.05 8.48 14.09 9.48 28.07 -2.26 -9.15 1.54 5.42 19.35 17.51

2005-2009 Growth of NonTransport 9.57 9.64 7.83 10.82 15.64 1.20 -10.92 7.64 8.04 6.39 10.29

Growth of Total Transport 9.69 9.56 8.64 10.71 16.96 0.88 -10.63 6.64 7.73 7.81 10.76

The Paradox of Transport system:

Efficient and reliable urban transport systems are crucial for India to sustain a high growth rate and alleviate poverty. There is certain significance of urban transport in India that plays roles in the reduction of poverty, both through its indirect effects as a stimulator of poverty reducing growth and through its direct effects on the quality of life of people. Services and manufacturing industries, particularly concentrating around major urban areas, require efficient and reliable urban transport systems to move workers from the urban periphery of rural sector and connect production facilities in terms of market-demand continuum. Thus in terms of economy and from a broader perspective it is true that increasing urban transport can increase the accessibility, mobility, and quality of travel for the poor. But it is also need to be keeping in mind that as the relationship between transportation and population density changes with rise in incomes, one of the main negative externalities associated with is displacement of the poor. There are thus instances of transport growth dynamics in urban areas that have high population densities along with high poverty levels. Transportation infrastructure in the name of urban renewal and economic development programs marginalizes the urban poor, and city improvements are made at the expense of the most vulnerable citizens of society. Motor vehicle ownership and use increase with income, especially in developing Countries. Transport costs, however, rise as cities grow, partially because vehicle ownership tends to increase at a faster pace than road infrastructure can be developed to accommodate the growth in traffic. In urban areas, thus poor neighbourhoods often suffer from the lack of affordable access to public transit. Accessibility is the ultimate aim of mobility but, more

mobility does not equal greater accessibility. From an accessibility standpoint, improved mobility by any mode is considered desirable only to the extent that it furthers accessibility. This creates a vicious cycle. However, the rate of motorization, particularly in developing countries, generally exceeds the rate of increase in population, yet the bulk of the urban poor in the developing world do not have the means to afford private motorized transport and rely on public transit for motorized trips. Increased use of private vehicles has resulted in falling demand for public transport and a consequent decline in service levels. Sprawling cities are making the journey to work excessively long and costly for some of the very poor.

Total Transport in different metro cities

600000 500000 400000 Numbers 300000 200000 100000 0

2005 2007 2009

Vehicular pollution is another serious matter of concern of Indian cities with increasing vehicle population on roads. Thus high vehicle density (with the predominance of two stroke two wheelers) in Indian urban centres are associated with problems of predominating older vehicles on road, adulteration of fuel and fuel products, inadequate inspection & maintenance facilities leading to high levels of pollution at traffic intersections. In the 1990s, as India experienced a period of economic and urban growth, air pollution in its major cities became a cause of national concern and generated worldwide attention. The levels of airborne suspended particulate matter recorded in largest metro-cities far exceeded the ambient air quality standards adopted by India and many other countries. Thus there is a need a better vehicle technology which can promote better fuel quality or use of alternative fuel to reduce

the level of pollution in the urban air. Here emerges the idea of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVS) and increasing mass transit system in operation. However, recent initiatives of up gradation of fuel quality & tightening of vehicle emission norms resulted in decreasing trends of pollution in major cities of India.
City 1 2 3 4 5 6 Population(million) <0.5 0.5-1.0 1.0-2.0 2.0-4.0 4.0-8.0 >8.0 % share of Population 53 10 10 6 8 15 CO2 Tons/Person/Year 0.026 0.057 0.080 0.091 0.120 0.260

As per the report of International Transport Forum, 2011

Communities have been thus looking for new and innovative approaches to address increasing urban congestion and associated pollution while providing efficient and effective transportation options. Adding more highways is expensive and disruptive, and is not always an environmentally sound approach. However, many prefer light rail rapid transit systems which require a significant initial capital investment, and may not be an effective solution for all urban transportation problems. Transit buses provide an essential transportation service in metropolitan areas, but are often viewed as slow and unreliable. Thus for a concrete planning and solution one need first understand the sector issues and superimposing these differential issues some way-out can be possible. Traffic Crashes is also begging for concerns from the policy makers as well as planners. Increasing incidences of fatalities can be attributed to two factors one is the increasing number of vehicles on road while the other is the absence of a coordinated official policy to control the problem. However the major concerns regarding higher fatalities is seen in the newly developed urban centres questioning about the planning and management. Pedestrians, bicyclist and the 2wheelers account for the 60-90% of the fatalities which questions about the safety of the NMTs. Only motorcycles report 25% of the fatalities alone. However, another important issue in this case is the nighttimes travelling where the three important aspects are the conspicuity of road users, influence of Alcohol and the fatigue of truck drivers.

2000 Population(billion) GDP Per Capita Vehicles(million) Fatalities('000) vehicles per 250 persons 1.041 $460 47 225 11

2050 1.572 $2569 292 272 46.7 17.3

Fatalities per 100,000 persons 21.6 As per the report of International Transport Forum, 2011

Number of Road Accidents

2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Bangalore Delhi Kolkata Mumbai

Statistics show that among the large metropolitans, Delhi reports the highest number of road accidents in spite of wider roads and developed transport networks. Thus it is just not only the development of big highways and flyovers which can improve the system of transportation, rather it is the safety of the people which need to be addressed by the planners.

% Share of Road Accidents by Modes of Transportation, 2010

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Bicycle

Pedestrians

2Wheelers

Car

Truck/Lorry

Bus

Others

Key issues in the urban transport system:

Motorized trips demand will continue to grow faster than the population due to economic and motorization growth Fast growth expected (GDP +7-8% during 11thPlan) faster in citiesmotorization is growing faster than the population (more than 10%/year for sale of cars and 2/3 wheelers over the past 5 years. To keep cities competitive, and thus sustain and accelerate economic growth, cities must provide efficient urban transport systems. Urban transport investment required for the 11thFYP is Rs 57,400 crore (USD12.8 billion) - About 2% of Indias GDP. However out of the projected investment of Rs. 1.9 lakh crore expected in the 11th plan, the actual investment is likely to be Rs. 1.52 lakh crore which reflects a shortfall of 25 %. Environmental pollution needs to keep in mind. Land acquisition and resettlement. Cleaner vehicles, emission monitoring. Road safety. About 64% of all accidents in India involve pedestrians or cyclist. Pricing and financing issues are at the heart of public transport problems. Need for more investment in public transport with increasing population. About 15% of all trips in cities with population over 5 million is by motorcycle (according to World Bank reports). According to CIRT, there has been a decline of about 15% in usage of public bus transport in India from 1999 to 2004 and the State transport undertakings have not been able to recover their costs in this field.

Points to be highlighted:
A scheme has been launched for providing Central Financial Assistance in the form of grant to States/ UTs/ ULBs/ Parastatals for procurement of buses for their urban transport system under JNNURM. The financing is meant exclusively for city bus service and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for all mission cities. Ministry of Urban Development has sanctioned 15260 buses under the scheme for 61 mission cities with a total cost of around Rs. 2092 crore which includes the setting up of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority for the mechanism of enforcing parking policy, advertisement policy, functioning of control-cum-information centre, prioritization of buses with demarcated lanes, ULB tax operation on buses etc.

however, till march 2011 delivery of more than 11000 modern ITS(Intelligent Transportation System) enabled buses have been received by different States/ cities has been reported under the framed specifications as per the Ministry of Urban Development. Metro rail comprises one of the important sectors of modern transportation in India providing more efficiency in terms of speed and money. Constantly growing metropolitans are increasingly connecting through metro services e.g. major Metro Rail Projects are under implementation in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata (East-West Metro Corridor). In Delhi funds are coming from the Government of India, Government of NCR in equal proportion along with loan assistance from Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) while for the extension of metro to Gurgaon and Noida funds are also provided by the government of Haryana and UP. Bengaluru metro (42.3 km), Kolkata East-West Corridor (14.67km) and Chennai Metro rail projects are also being implemented on the pattern of Delhi metro project and targeted by 31.3.2013 for completion. In Delhi, several new flyovers have been constructed in recent years to avoid traffic. Public transport vehicles have been converted to CNG to escape pollution. Thus Delhi sets an example of a comprehensive and far-reaching program of measures. In Mumbai, the government is investing in a number of urban roads and suburban rail projects concerning to the fact that the existing suburban systems under extreme pressure. The Mumbai government is also considering implementation of metro system as there are physical constraints to expand the existing road network capacity and also the bus system cannot alone meet the future demand of public transportation. Vehicular growth here has been increased from 61,000 to over 1.02 Million in the last four decades (according to MMRDA). Part II The transport sector, comprising the Railways, roads, ports and civil aviation, has thus been one of the principal areas of State intervention in India. Public private ownership, management and financing of the transport sector in India suffer from several forms of inefficiencies and thus call for efficient steps for policy measurements and implications. Besides an appropriate tariff strategy, efficiency enhancement strategies for better utilisation

of existing infrastructure and services is also required to set urban transport sector on a longterm growth path maintaining a pace with the economic growth. However, the on-going structural reform process in India which is started in the early nineties, has cast a new dimension to the overall framework for the management as well as financing of transport infrastructure and services. But transport infrastructure is quite a difficult field for public policy recruitment as the overall transport infrastructure involves coordination between different modes of transport with differing land use pattern, industry structures, technologies, and economies of scale.

Important government undertakings:

MoUD designated as a nodal ministry for UT Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) National Urban Transport Policy (2006) Working Group on Urban Transport for the 11thFiveYear Plan (2007-2012)

The World Bank has been a major investor in the transport sector in India. It is supporting the system of transportation by providing loans focusing in many ways as followings: Assist GoI implementing the National Urban Transport Policy and the 11th Five year Plan. Focus on cities of at least one million inhabitants (35). Focus on technical assistance. Focus on addressing the needs of the urban poor. Focus on capacity building in terms of investment financing and reform support. Focus on improvements in planning, financing and management of roads by state agencies, and to prepare road improvement investment project in selected state. (Road TA projects etc.) Provide demonstration projects to help to initiate institutions and implementation of systems required for sustainable urban transport World Bank activities also include the Sustainable Urban Transport Project which aims to promote environmentally sustainable urban transport in various cities and support implementation of the India National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) National Urban Transport Policy: GoI issued the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in April 2006 to ensure safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable, and sustainable access for the growing number of city residents to jobs, education, recreation, and other needs through

Integrated land use and transport planning, priority to public transport and nonmotorized transport modes, use of cleaner technologies. Promote Public Bus Transport system (PBT) to reduce negative externalities (congestion, pollution etc).

enhanced regulatory and enforcement mechanisms for transport operations and promoting Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) which can increase the efficiency of existing transportation infrastructure and holds the promise of substantially of the increasing capacity building.

Promoting single Window clearance System and Green Channel. Road safety and effective institutional arrangements for coordination, etc. Promote sustainable road transport with special emphasis on energy efficiency, environmental conservation and social impact.

Key Features of JNNURM: Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is a massive city modernisation scheme launched by the Government of India under Ministry of Urban Development. It envisages a total investment of over $20 billion over seven years. JNNURM is a huge mission which relates primarily to development in the context of urban conglomerates focusing to the Indian cities. JNNURM aims at creating economically productive, efficient, equitable and responsive Cities by a strategy of upgrading the social and economic infrastructure in cities, provision of Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and wide-ranging urban sector reforms to strengthen municipal governance in accordance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992. It also has a Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure Development of Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) administered by the Ministry of Urban Development, 63 cities in total including mega cities, million-plus cities and cities of religious/historic/tourist significance Duration of JNNURM would be 7 years beginning 2005-06 Sectors include urban transport roads, highways, expressways, MRTS and metro projects Encouragement of PSP in project development, financing and management

Thus studying the background of the characteristic features of Indian transportation system and also by looking at the initiatives taken and the policies or management strategies planning to be taken, some structural issues emerges which are needed to be addressed for a better system of transportation both in terms of further planning and management.

Structural adjustments: need to be addressed:

Transport development in medium-size cities. This can act as a decentralizing effect to reduce the congestion in the metropolitans providing better market opportunities thus increasing demand. Thus development of counter magnet town.

Improved road infrastructure should not necessarily mean total auto dependence. This implies prioritization of infrastructure through more use of public transport and NMT (non-motorized transportation) against unrestricted expansion of private motorized trips. This could have both positive effects on the traffic situation as well as environmental condition. Traffic management should thus be focused more on improving the movement of people rather than improving the movement of motorized vehicles. Thus segregation of vehicular-pedestrian movement is needed.

Bus systems can be improved through provision of better buses, improved information system and prioritization of bus flows through dedicated bus lane. Application of GPS system should also be implemented for efficient planning where the idea of Bus Routing comes.

As Congestion reduces efficiency of transportation infrastructure and increases travel time, air pollution, and fuel consumption ; ITS (Intelligent Transport System) provides a hope to manage the problems through synergy of new information technology for simulation, real-time control, and communications networks.

Urban road transport efficiency should be improved through better system of management and technology. Both technical assistance and investment are capable of yielding high returns in this field. To keep the urban core possibly less congested as well as polluted one of the important measures can be taken by Restricting commercial vehicles entering city by having ring roads. Planning is thus important in every aspect. Pune action plans said to have implement the idea of ring roads and it is expected to have its proposed ring roads in place from 2012-2015 which is expected to divert 50% of trucks and 20% LCVs by 2012 and 70% of trucks and 30% of LCVs by 2017.

Road decay contributes to congestion and increasing operating costs. Thus maintenance and operational skill requirements are of one of the prime importance.

To reduce the congestion of especially private vehicles on road norms should be implemented as private vehicles owners should must own their personal garages thus less parking on the roads and less congestion or higher parking charges, high registration fees and higher car user charges can also be beneficiary especially in the metropolitans. This is because of the fact that lesser private vehicles on road, higher would be the road space utilization. Examples of adopting this type of measurements can be drawn from the developed western countries of Netherland, Germany and also Japan.

Ban on old commercial vehicles (10 year) and private vehicles (15 years) in the city to maintain air quality. Also Progressive improvement of vehicular emissions norms and strong hold in terms of its implementation is necessary. Installation of pollution control devices such as Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) and Diesel Oxidation Catalyst should also be implemented as bulk of the vehicle on urban road is fuelled with Diesel. Examples can be taken from the oldest metropolitan of Kolkata where 70% of the buses are more than 10 years old contributing to 35% of the total pollution.

Most urban public transport is road based. Thus a shift in medium is necessary by building another means e.g. metro rail system which can sufficiently deduct the pressure over road. However proper traffic management control system over road transit is also important. For example, in Kolkata light rail transit the TRAM can be put in first place of development in respect to the shift to be taken place.

Also Rail-based mass transit systems may have a role to play in very large cities. This type of mass transit systems are less congesting than are road-based systems and can be very important for those who are peripherally located and have long journeys to access employment in the cities. Examples can be drawn from Latin America where rail-based systems carry significant numbers of very poor people. Thus transport strategy can focus on financing this sector of the system as an alternative to road transit.

Multi-modal integration is extremely important in the present urban scenario to ensure efficient functioning of different modes of transportation. Various modes of transportation should be complementary and not competitive. Development of nodal points within the transport network is also a factor of market and demand. There

should car free areas as well as restricted access in the city centres to make the nodes of growth less congested and less polluted. General fare controls should be determined as part of a comprehensive city transport financing plan including the consideration of the effect on the expected quality and quantity of service. However Fare Policy should be affordable to the state, operators and users. Mumbai has a slum population of 54.1% while for Kolkata the figure is about 32.5% and for Delhi it is 18.7% according to the census report of 2001. Thus transport sector should target the poor which often forms the majority. Transport provision should be part of a social safety net. Transport improvements may indulge concentrated efforts to improve access to slum areas or to improve public transport to peripheral locations.

Conclusion:
Population growth, increases in household income, and increase in commercial and industrial activities have placed heavy demands on urban transport systems which many Indian cities have not been able to meet. The main reason for this is inadequate transport infrastructure and its sub-optimal use accompanied with inefficient policies or management planning and its proper implementation. According to a recent study report of 2011 by ACMA India has largest 3 Wheeler & 2nd Largest Two Wheeler Market, only behind China and 4th Largest Car Market in Asia. It is expected that by 2020 passenger vehicle (PVs) on road will share 21% while for the two wheelers it will be around 23.5%. This all India scenario can put some light on the future trend of urban transportation pattern also as a sizable portion of population in urban areas belongs to middle class and urban poor where 2Ws forms the base. However, PVs (passenger vehicles) concentration is found mainly in metropolitan and sub-urban areas (e.g. Delhis share of overall PVs population in India is 12%) while CV (consumer vehicles) hubs are generally present just outside major industrial hubs (34.4% of CVs on Indian roads are present in 44 major cities). Mumbai with the highest 3Wheeler population carries the most potential for 3W components aftermarket followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. Thus comprehensive Transportation Planning and its integration with Urban Development Planning is the issue in accordance with the city specific situation. Indeed policies are most needed here in view of the complexities in urban transport infrastructure and the need for greater integration in providing, maintaining and managing urban public utilities. Rational use of different modes of transportation, encouragement of those modes which are more

sustainable, providing education, promotions and the addressing of the question of WHERE and WHEN appropriate is also important. After all in the developing economy like India, sustainable transport development is not just about WHAT TO DO, but also about WHAT NOT TO DO.

References:
1. Indian Transport Sector: the Challenges ahead. Vol. 1. Main report. 2002.GOI 2. Indian Transport Sector: the Challenges ahead. Vol. 2. Main report. 2002.GOI 3. The working group report on Road Transport for the 11th five year plan. GOI. Planning Commission. New Delhi. 4. Halder, D. (2008) Studies in Urban Transport. National Institute for Transport and Urban Environment Studies (NITUS), Kolkata. 5. Padam, S., Singh, k. S. (2004) Urbanization and Urban Transport in India: a search for a Policy. European Transport. Vol. 27. PP. 26-44. 6. Vaidhya, C. (2009) Urban Issues, reforms and way forward in India. Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. GOI. 7. Patel, B. S. (1969) Transport Planning for Indian Cities. EPW. Vol. 4. No. 28/30. PP. 1203-1208. 8. Kesharwani, T. R. Transport Statistics in India: An Evaluation (1975). EPW. Vol. 10, No. 32, PP. 1200-1203. 9. Gakenheimer, R. (1999) Urban Mobility in the Developing World. Transportation Research Part A. 33. PP.671-689. www.elsevier.com 10. Pucher, J & Korattyswaropam, N. (2004) The Crisis of Public Transport in India: overwhelming needs but limited resources. Journal of Public Transportation. Vol. 7, No.3. 11. Pucher, J., Korattyswaropam, N.,Mittal, N., Ittyerah, N. (2005) Urban Crisis in India. Transport Policy. Vol. 12, PP. 185-198. www.elsevier.com. 12. Singh, K. S. (2005) Review of Urban Transportation in India. Journal of Public Transportation. Vol. 8, No. 1. 13. Pucher, J., Peng, Z., Mittal, N., Korattyswaropam, N. (2007) Urban Transport, Trends and Policies in China & India: Impact of Rapid Economic Growth. Trasport Reviews. Vol. 27, No. 4, PP. 379-410.

14. JNNURM Report. Review of Road Network & Transport System. Department of Urban Development. GOI. 15. Report on Indian Urban Infrastructure & Series, March 2011. The High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC). 16. World Bank Report. Towards a Discussion of Support to Urban Transport Development in India (March, 2005). Energy & Infrastructure Unit. South Asia Region. 17. World Bank Support to Urban Transport in India. 2006. New Delhi. 18. www.worldbank.org 19. www.wikipedia.com

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