Elevated corridors that criss-cross the city and umpteen flyovers or underpasses for clogged junctions; road upon roads, and trees making way for carriageways. These are the solutions offered by policy makers each time a road gets choked with vehicular traffic.
However, a recent study of five cities in the country, including Bengaluru, reveals the shortcomings in these “solutions”.
“The solution does not lie in building more roads or increasing the capacity of existing roads, but in providing more sustainable options for the people,” says Ashish Verma from the Centre for Infrastructure Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning, Indian Institute of Science who authored the study “Urban Mobility Trends in Indian Cities and Its Implications”. The research covered Bengaluru, New Delhi, Guwahati, Indore and Lucknow. The findings were published recently in the book “Developing Country Perspectives on Public Service Delivery”.
By observing trends in usage of public transport and private vehicles, researchers noted an “alarming” shift towards private vehicles. Bengaluru registers the highest growth rate in addition of two-wheelers and cars to the roads. The shift is due to worsening traffic conditions with peak hour speeds hovering between 15 and 20kmph.
“With such alarming growth in car ownership rates, it is important to have policy-level interventions to curb the usage of private vehicles and encourage people to use transit (buses and other public transport) and non-motorised transport system,” noted the researchers, who represent a wide range of institutes, including IISc and IIM-B.
At present, the average distance travelled by Bengalureans in public transport is half that by Delhiites, which is being attributed to the extensive metro network in the national capital.
At the same time, with the city on the verge of seeing a full functional metro network, the study notes that there could be overlapping of routes and competition with buses. They suggest integrated ticket systems which allow passengers to travel in all public transport. This, they say, is “important” to make travel attractive and convenient.
While Bengaluru has the higher percentage of roads with footpaths as compared to the other cities, researchers note that many pavements are occupied by hawkers forcing pedestrians and cyclists to share the road with bigger vehicles.
Mobility
Car: 5 per cent
2-wheelers: 21 per cent
Public transport: 35 per cent
Cycle: 5 per cent
Walking: 20 per cent
Para-transit (auto and others): 11 per cent
* 38.1 per cent of trips were work-related
* This is highest in the country
* Developed countries see work-related travel at around 50 per cent
Public transport
Used by 35 per cent of commuters
Buses travelled 465.5 million km in 2011
Average commute: 7.38 km per day
Highest among cities surveyed
Cost of travel is highest in Bengaluru
Private vehicles
Two-wheelers
Bengaluru: 309 per 1,000 citizens
National figure: 84 per 1,000 citizens
Cars
Bengaluru: 90 per 1,000 people
National figure: 16 per 1,000 people
* On average, cars travel 11.82 million km per day in Bengaluru
* Bengaluru has seen highest growth in use of cars and two-wheelers
Road network
Bengaluru has 1.20m road length per person, Lower than Delhi, Lucknow, Guwahati
Average peak hour speed: 17 km/hr
80 per cent of roads have footpath, the highest among surveyed
Length of cycle track: 45 km, the highest among surveyed
Source : “Urban Mobility Trends in Indian Cities and Its Implications” published in Developing Country Perspectives on Public Service Delivery
Cities studied: Bengaluru, Delhi, Guwahati, Indore, Lucknow
Figures between 2008 and 2011 used in the study
