Welcome to the world of car-free days, a concept rooted in an European oil crisis back in early 1970s seeking to affect a behaviourial change in urban commuters in terms reducing of their dependence on personal vehicles on selected days. And now, we have a new aspirant aching to add New Delhi to this coveted list of ‘evolving world cities’ in spite of serious infrastructural flaws in the Capital's existing public transportation system.
Can Delhi, which will observe its first car-free day on October 22 after another almost-ugly spat with the local police over the issue, really pull off the event beyond tokenism — what with a recent survey commissioned by the Aam Aadmi Party-led (AAP) government arguing for a need of a fleet of at least 10,000 public buses half of which are currently available to commuters?
This, even as around one-fifth of the Delhi Transport Corporation's (DTC) fleet of close to 5,000 low-floor and 1500 cluster buses remains off roads on a daily basis and last-mile connectivity, as it currently exists and the magnitude at which it is expected to operate to make public transport at least seem like a viable alternative to the residents of the Capital, more than a stumbling block for the government and delhi transport minister gopal rai who has vowed to change the way we commute.
“There is always hope; when other cities including Indian cities like Gurgaon Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru can do it why can't we,” said a senior government official associated with the initiative.
"The recently-announced 'Ab Bus Karein Jan Parivahan – Swasthya Jeevan’ initiative is bigger than just the observance of a single or multiple car-free days and the government is committed to successfully address the issue of road space, which has rapidly shrunk over consecutive decades, towards the completion of the middle of its five-year term in office,” the official added.
