Decongesting Indian megacities: a policy framework for urban transport

Abstract

Urban transport has emerged as a key area of concern for policy makers in India. There is a growing realization that a good urban transport system is a sine-qua-non not only for competitive advantage of a city but for its very survival. Hence there is an increased emphasis on integrating transport planning with the land-use planning. There is also a rush to bolster public transport by building rail-based mass transit systems in many of the big cities. Taking a cue from Delhi Metro, Bangalore, Mumbai and Secunderabad have also started planning for MRTS for upgrading their public transport. This study brings out the fact that bolstering public transport is an absolute necessity as relentless growth of private travel is just not sustainable. Hence provision of all sorts of enhanced services in public transport domain is a welcome move. But the hard reality is that just creation of capacity like MRTS or wider roads/more buses is not adequate. Well planned directed efforts are required to wean public away from private to public transport. In other words more emphasis should be put on transport demand management after ensuring adequate provision of public transport for all classes. Principles of commercial marketing should be applied in designing public transport services. Information technology must be leveraged to design innovative services for different classes. The objective of public transport policy should be to encourage better utilization of moving vehicle space. Most importantly there must be a paradigm shift in the conception of Public transport. It should be conceived as transport for Public rather than just Publicly provided transport.