India that aspires to be an economic superpower is visibly in need of a transport policy that is in tune with the times. The constitution of a high level Transport Policy Development Committee, headed by the former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Rakesh Mohan, reflects this. The last time a comprehensive view of transport was taken at the national level was in 1980 when the B.D. Pande committee submitted its report. Much has happened since then. India's economic transformation from a near-closed economy to a fast liberaliser led to a significant stepping up of economic activity, particularly by the private sector, and resulted in higher individual spending capacity. While the former meant increased flow of goods and services, calling for better freight facilities, the latter translated into both higher purchasing power for personal transportation modes and higher effective demand for better public transport. Liberalisation has also spawned its own huge inequities. A fresh policy has to factor in the harsh reality that the overwhelming majority, in the region of 800 million Indians, live in poverty. This calls for a more active state role as a provider of subsidised transport and as an effective regulator, particularly since the trend is to move towards a system that facilitates private players.
The terms of reference of the Rakesh Mohan committee are wide: they range from “assessing the transport requirements for the next two decades” to “assessing the investment requirements” of the sector. Although there are several issues that jostle for attention, there is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive policy for road transport as this mode carries 87 per cent of India's passengers, moves 60 per cent of its freight, and is in serious disarray. Efficient inter-State, intra-city, and rural transport systems will reduce losses, improve connectivity, and open up more economic opportunities. The most shocking lapse of state policy is the decline of public transport. As a Parliamentary Standing Committee rightly pointed out, the decline of buses in the total fleet of vehicles from 11 per cent in 1951 to a paltry 1.1 per cent in 2004 has meant an increase in personalised transport. This leads to avoidable economic losses due to higher fuel expenditure, apart from widening inequalities. The retrogressive trend needs urgent reversal. A policy that accords primacy of space to an affordable, efficient, and integrated public transport system will be key to fixing India's transport troubles.
Keywords: Indian economy, RBI, public transport
well i think the solution of this comes out in the same manner as ther economy. More of privatization. efficent private industries shouls take in there hands to reduce the traffic.
Problems of transportation and related issues are more complex than have been discussed and viewed. Transportation planning, operations and safety are still in rudimentary stages in India. Educated in the United States in the field of transportation engineering, I have been always worried about the problems ahead that the country (India) has to face or issues that we are already facing. While affordability and efficiency matters a lot one important aspect we always do not give much importance is the safety aspect of transportation. Official statistics say that there are around 80,000 motor vehicle related fatalities in India, not to mention how many non motor vehicle related crashes and unofficial or off the record fatalities that are not accounted for. While in the developed countries there is a rigorous travel demand analysis carried out and traffic forecasted for every five years for many thousands of cities we hardly see those in the very large metropolitan cities of India. Recently, I read some Comprehensive Transportation studies in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Without forecasting at least approximately we cannot plan our future... While all the forecasting models do not predict accurately and in the Sub Continent it is highly unpredictable, we still need to understand our intra-city travel patterns. Traffic operations, pedestrian and bicyclist facilities along roadways and others were not given enough priority in the cities (with an exception to recent proposals in Chennai). And lastly the bureaucratic impediments further add to the problems. It might be easy to blame the government; but infrastructure related problems of this scale are impossible to be handled without governments support. Besides all these problems one very good thing we have till today is predominant non motorized travel in urban India which we have to preserve. Hope our leaders understand these problems for the country's and its citizens well being and invest more in planning and implementing the infrastructure design of future India.
The single-minded pursuit of fast GDP growth of the Manmohan Singh government involves encouraging manufacture of more and more of ever increasing number of products by creating demand for all such products by getting banks to make available to consumers cheap money virtually on demand and giving huge tax concessions to businesses like the IT industry to enable them to leave very high levels of disposable incomes in the hands of their employees. No wonder that all major international car manufacturers have set up shop in the country and are flooding the roads of urban India with large automobiles which generally carry only one or if there is a driver two people, throwing pedestrians out of the roads and polluting the environment with exhaust gases, dust and noise. In Mumbai the number of BEST buses on the roads has been conveniently reduced to make room for more and more cars.In that city circulation of air has been considerably hampered and the health and quality of life of people living on both sides of the roads affected by the large number of fly-overs constructed to help the car owners and thereby the car industry. It would seem that for our rulers common people no longer count. Should we be proud of such a democracy? One wonders.
Thank you for the editorial. I admire the intent of the article as well as reader's comments calling for a stop to the regressive subsidies and support for private automobile-dependent development : "The
retrogressive trend needs urgent reversal. A policy that accords primacy of space to an affordable, efficient, and integrated public transport system will be key to fixing India's transport troubles."
Yet, if you look deeper into the composition of the committee, it comprises the same set of people who got us there in the first place. There is very little to suggest that they have the ability to craft the win-win solutions that will lead to a high quality and yet, affordable transport system in the country, navigating highly complex challenges.
As I travel from my house to office which is a mere 3 km ride, I find humongous traffic with numerous small and big cars ,having single person inside.
The problem specified above is one that the government should really handle in an orderly manner. When I see numerous private vehicles causing traffic jams,smoke everywhere and shrinking space to walk, I feel the urgent need for an efficient public transport which can not only be a good source of income for the government but also a relief to the ordinary man .
If the PTS(Public Transport System) improves ,we will see less of traffic jams,accidents,pollution and above all a safe and happy common man.
Lot of dedication is certainly required in Indians to fix this problem, but we certainly lag here. Projects like Golden Quadrangle which connected four metros along with other big cities like Bangalore are necessary. But when I was going from Mumbai to Bangalore, I observed in patches at many places the work is not yet complete. If this is the scenario of the execution of the project then definitely the problem will persist. Taking up many other projects and leaving in half way certainly won't help.
Setting up a high level committee even belatedly after 30 years is welcome. Your concluding sentence “affordable, efficient, integrated public transport system will be a key to fixing the transport troubles” is a very focused advice. A lot of activity is taking place but these are piece meal efforts with neither integrated thinking nor with due priorities.
Your editorial spots the problem facing Indian transportation policy correctly. The government is wrongly encouraging cars and mobikes at the expense of buses, leading to excessive use of petrol and road congestion.At least now, the government should stop encouraging car makers, making them pay market price for land and other resources and doing away with other concessions. Incentives should be given for manufacture of buses and their use by the public. More facilities should be provided for the use of non-motor traffic like bicycles.
Personalised vehicle has a useful role in non metro and nor urban areas as in those places the public transport is missing.
But in urban areas and Metros, we can restrict intra city movement thru a comfortable public transport system like AC low floor buses for the rich people and normal buses for the common man who cannot pay more bus fares.
Furthur, as a deterrent, we can fix higher Tax Token say Rs.1 lac per vehicle for private cars as in Singapore. Then we can restrict ownership of personalised cars to ONE per household/family.
We cannot live in the luxury of Cars as it consumes huge petrol and makes environment much pollutted and eats a lot of resources like steel,energy,etc.
A long term transport policy, therefore, calls for total ban in use of CARs in Metros even for Ministers/MPS/industrialists/beurocrats.
Have we guts to bring such policy ?
Assessment of the environmental impact of the different modes of transport is also paramount.
Instead of constructing the concrete ribbons connecting the metropolises and urban areas, enabling the vociferous richer sections of the society to race around in their internal combustion contraptions, contributing further to the carbon tyreprint on the environment, would it not be better to concentrate on enlarging and deepening the railway system. This will provide cheaper, better and more environmentally-friendly transport to the 800 million of our fellow citizens.
We certainly do not have to replicate the blunders of the affluent societies who are reverting from the gas-guzzlers to bicycles - look at the Borisbikes of London!
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