ITDP India

Promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide

[Webinar] How can Indian cities construct a future for walking

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Join our webinar to hear how Indian cities can construct safe and attractive footpaths that are accessible by all.  The webinar will introduce our publication – Footpath Fix – that provides guidance on footpath construction details, especially that of different utilities.

Many Indian cities have begun to acknowledge the fundamental role of walking in everyday life but are stuck at getting the details right. This short guide is more of a cheat-sheet for urban designers, municipal engineers, and contractors on how to implement footpaths in complex urban environments. Everyone who has seen it is raving about it.

Download your own FREE copy!

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Date and time: Thursday 16 August, at 6pm IST
Speaker: Nashwa Naushad,  Research Associate – Urban Development, ITDP India
Pranjal Kulkarni, Research Associate – Urban Development, ITDP India

Carefree on Car-free Sundays: Citizens take to city streets for fun and revelry

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Imagine an arterial road in your city. Now, place a child running about in that stretch. Fair to assume that your brows twitched at the thought of these two events aligning. Though stark, urban dwellers are naturalised to the danger that arterial roads or streets in general hold. But to hold a static entity accountable is unfair. So where does the buck stop?

Let’s reimagine this sequence of events. Same arterial city road and same child running about carefree. This time though, cordon off vehicles from the section. Suddenly, the road seems to be devoid of chaos. It even becomes an oasis where people can come together to run, play, and enjoy themselves to their heart’s content.

Isn’t it bewildering how one component can drive our stress up the walls and still be considered an integral part of our lives. This is exactly what the “Car-free” initiative was conceptualised to debunk. Originated in the Netherlands and Belgium during the 1956 Suez Crisis, the move was planned to ration petroleum. But it took its true form in 1958, when New York City residents blocked vehicles into their neighbourhood to protest the extension of a road at the cost of a public space.

As vehicles started taking over our streets and lives, the initiative gained prominence to counter this menace. And it is with the same intention that the initiative made its way into the Indian quarters. The “Car-free Sundays” drive, proposed by ITDP India Programme in collaboration with Riverside School and other partners, was first introduced to Ahmedabad in 2009. Every Sunday, citizens were given unconditional access to three arterial stretches to experience the freedom of walking and cycling on safer car-free streets.

India’s first car-free Sunday in Ahmedabad in 2012

It wasn’t long before other states recognised the transformative nature of the initiative. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were quick to come on board and transform their streets into vibrant spaces for citizens, not vehicles, to occupy.

Leading the charge in Tamil Nadu was Coimbatore. The dialogue, facilitated by ITDP, was a success. All partners –including the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC), print media partners and the residents– realised that the concept would help improve walking and cycling conditions in the city.

The Corporation and the Coimbatore Police left no stones unturned to help citizens reclaim landscape lost to vehicles. With prior public consultation workshops for residents, the campaign was launched across two stretches –DB Road and T V Swamy Road– for a total of 1.7km, in 2015. This sense of emancipation was refreshing, as many came in droves to be part of the revelry. Soon accolades started pouring in, with the campaign being honoured with the Best Project Award, Non-Motorised Transport category, by India’s National Ministry of Urban Development.

People enjoying hop-scotch at the car-free Sunday in Coimbatore

The obvious impact was soon realised by Chennai and it didn’t take much for city officials and the police to join the bandwagon, with ITDP again playing a hand holding role in collaboration with Chennai City Connect and The Hindu (media partners). Titled “Namma Chennai Namakke” (Our Chennai for Ourselves), many residents took an instant liking to the idea.

“I would love to see children aimlessly ride their cycles on the road…or adults playing badminton and pet enthusiast take their companions for a walk. I personally would indulge my pet, without the fear of him/her getting hit by a car,” said Jennifer Jacob-Murali, resident of Chennai.

Father and daughter bonding over skipping at the car-free Sunday in Chenani

Every Sunday, the ruckus of vehicles were replaced by that of laughter and excitement. Of kids being kids and parents joining the act. Of people dancing, doing yoga, and enjoying art and craft. Of citizens, young and old, not surrendering their right to walk, run, and cycle to the chagrin of fuel guzzling automobiles.

Today, these cities have taken a step ahead towards sustainable urban transport solutions with Chennai adopting a Non-Motorised Transport Policy and Coimbatore adopting the Street Design and Management Policy. Car-free Sundays helped citizen to wake up to the possibility of enjoying public spaces like roads and streets without the hindrance and dread of vehicles. Its success gave momentum to the ‘Model Roads’ project, as citizens demanded better walking and cycling infrastructure across Coimbatore.

Not even John Lennon could have imagined how vehicles would take over lives, leaving us struggling to find our way. So an ode to his legendary vision, with a twist of our own.

Imagine there are no vehicles
It’s easy if you try
No fumes around us
Only people and the sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Cover image courtesy: Times of India, Coimbatore.

Maharashtra Urban Mobility Policy

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If life is a theatre, then commuting on Indian urban roads is a Greek tragedy that unfolds daily. Jostling for space, dashing to beat a signal or tip-toeing around oncoming traffic, all these are daily reminders of how desperately the Indian transport system needs an overhaul. According to a Boston Consulting Group survey, a commuter in Mumbai spends 135% more time in road travel than any other Asian city.

Yet, our current vehicle-centric transportation planning only adds more vehicles on roads. And beating congestion by adding more roads is a battle that no city has won. It isn’t just the rapid increase in congestion, traffic snarls or travel time, but also the subsequent rise of pollution and road accidents that hamper quality of life in our cities.

“Every rupee spent by a city on public transport boosts its economy by four rupees!” said Mr Khatua, Director of Mumbai Technical Support Unit, at a workshop on the Maharashtra State Urban Transport Policy. Succinctly put, the senior officer magnifies the need of the hour: sustainable public transport systems.

Closely looking at Maharashtra’s urban population, it is expected to increase by a whopping 30% in the next decade and by another 50% in the years to follow. Going by the present-day scenario of urban commute in the state, the future seems too hazy. To counter these issues, the Urban Development Department of the state has drafted and published the Maharashtra Urban Mobility Policy.

With sustainability at its core, the policy looks to develop transport systems in accordance. So efforts will be concentrated on urban transit systems which reduces burden on resources and most importantly, offers an equal space to every commuter. Hence, facilitating walking, cycling and usage of public transport.

How the policy came about

In 2006, the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) was laid out as a guidance for transportation planning in Indian cities. It prioritized the movement of people and not vehicles in cities, emphasizing on adequate road space for sustainable transport modes, such as walking, cycling and public transport. However, the NUTP mostly existed as a term of reference on papers.

You may ask, so why bring it up now? Well, Maharashtra is taking strides to plug this gap, making it the first state to define its own transportation policy. This further ensures that its urban transportation projects are consistent with NUTP. In June 2017, the Urban Development Department released a draft of the policy. To ensure transparency and insight on feasibility the process was participatory, taking into consideration comments and suggestions of citizens and officials from various cities.

Consultation with Pune Municipal Corporation

Consultation with Nashik Municipal Corporation

In all of this the ITDP India Programme provided technical guidance to the Urban Development Department, and the department is now in the last stages of finalizing the draft.

What it offers

Applicable to all urban areas of the state, the policy envisions transport modes which are safe, reliable, sustainable and accessible for citizen from all walks of life. Additionally, focusing on women’s safety.

The key objectives that the policy will enforce upon cities are:
· Safety and convenience offered to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.
· Reducing usage of personal vehicles
· Our transportation infrastructure must be is universally accessible
· Road fatalities should be drastically reduced
· Ambient air quality should meet or exceed Central Pollution Control Board norms

All this is easier said than done, of course. Hence, the policy offers tangible metrics for infrastructure implementation, followed up with support and training provided by the state government.

The policy also helps to detangle the bureaucratic red-tape and ensures a coherent approach is in store. Cities with a population of 10 lakh or more are expected to establish a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority and an Urban Transport Fund to manage financial resources for all transportation projects. This will ensure that each agency works in coordination and follows an identical vision.

In conclusion, the policy offers a glimmer of hope; and we say glimmer because there are still many a miles to go and stretches to be reclaimed for equal distribution. But this clearly is a step in the right direction which will impact and influence other states to follow suit. In essence, Maharashtra has shown its wherewithal to get with the times and be the trailblazer that leads by example.

Safer the Children, Safer the City

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Over 40 children die on Indian street every single day! According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2015 alone, 15,700 children were prey to road accidents which was seven times the death caused due to the crime against children like murder and foeticide. Yes, India is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate and we are marathoning to meet the demand, but with very little focus on our children. Remember the days of traditional outdoor games — hopscotch, marble and conkers, hide-and-seek, and many more that brought together every child in the neighbourhood on to the streets? They were great fun and brought life to our streets. They created opportunities for children for physical immersive that cut across gender and cultural bias. Sadly, today, the streets are dismissed as sepia-toned nostalgia as vehicles took over space which was once adorned by children. Why do we need to focus on children’s mobility pattern, anyway?

Children are catalysts for improving cities. As a youth dominant country, India is home to 446 million children, and we are trending on the first rank position in the world. The quality of urban life experienced by them is likely to influence the society and our global future. Although urban children are considered to have been provided numerous opportunities and benefits as urban residents, as against their rural counterparts, several of them suffer basic child rights.

In an urban fabric of highly dense neighborhoods, narrow streets, poor air quality, lack of open spaces, and unsafe and unequal access, the city falls short to address the need of the children who yearn for safe streets to walk, cycle and play; access to parks and open spaces; and clean air to breathe. Over the recent decade, the rise in motor vehicles has irrefutably restricted children’s independent mobility and caged them indoors. Not to mention the rising child obesity of about 14.4 million children in India as a repercussion of unplanned urbanization.

On the other hand, the degrading urban environment has made them the most vulnerable road users to being hit by speeding vehicles as children lack the ability to gauge speed besides lack of experience in mix traffic. The dearth of child-friendly city infrastructure has discouraged children to navigate and discover the city on their own and has further curbed their social and cultural interactions.

With inevitable migration foreseen, how can urban planners and designers envisage cities that are child-friendly? Cities that provide children with the freedom to stroll around backed by the adequate infrastructure for their rough and tumbling steps.

Picture courtesy: ITDP China

Picture Courtesy: Brian Negin/Flickr

Here are some key takeaways from international case studies highlighted above:

  • Identify school zones or children’s priority zone, and install traffic signals and signages at 300 meters from school’s main gate;
  • Provide well-designed segregated sidewalks;
  • Adopt adequate traffic calming measures like safe road crossing and speed tables near schools, and regulate urban road speed in school zones;
  • Design public spaces such as parks and squares to enhance social interaction among children, and promote leisure activities and cultural events;
  • Prohibit vehicle parking near the school entrance.

Cities are dynamic and a conducive urban environment influences children substantially over the course of their lives. It is thus imperative to design cities at the heart of children’s mobility pattern. Safer the children, safer the city for all.

This blog post was written by Apoorva Nandish, Intern, ITDP India.

Challenges of a Bus-Rapid-Transit System in Indian Cities: The Rainbow case study

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Over the past decade, cities across India have dared to dream of reimagining bus transit, most famously known as the Bus-Rapid-Transit, or the BRT. The concept of having buses ply in the centre of the road, on dedicated bus-only lanes, has gradually mulled into our urban transport systems with a tenacious aim of mobilizing people rather than cars.

India’s first high-quality bus-rapid-transit system was inaugurated in 2009 in Ahmedabad — the Janmarg bus-rapid-transit. Janmarg set a national benchmark and inspired systems across India, including the Rainbow bus-rapid-transit in the twin cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad that was launched in 2015.

The Rainbow bus-rapid-transit offers convenient commute, as efficient as a metro or a train without the cost of acquiring land, laying tracks, building large scale stations, and the pedestrian foot-over-bridge to get to them. The ITDP India Programme assisted Pune Municipal Corporation, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited create physical designs and operational plans for the system.

Today, the Rainbow operates along a 43 km network of bus-only lanes, with 58 stations along four corridors. However, this was Pune’s second attempt at perfecting a system that would help address the pressing issue of transport needs for the influx of population. Back in 2006, Pune piloted a 13 km bus-rapid-transit corridor but failed to meet BRT Standards.

A good bus-rapid-transit system requires dedicated bus-only-lanes, high quality bus fleet at regular frequency, a matching height of the station and bus fleet for easy step-less passenger boarding, off-board fare collection, and adequate passenger information for seamless travel. Unfortunately, the pilot bus-rapid-transit was short of meeting these basic standards.

The initial set back was not detrimental to the city regaining momentum to construct a successful bus-rapid-transit. Learning from this experience, and from the systems later commissioned in India and around the world, leaders were determined to get Rainbow right.

The Rainbow bus-rapid-transit was faced with a challenge of retrofitting a high-quality system on an existing bus network. The ITDP India programme assisted with route rationalization to deliver frequent service and ensure efficiency of the system’s fleet.

Soon after it’s launch, Rainbow was awarded the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Mobility’ at the Volvo Sustainable Mobility Awards 2015. The award was attributed to it’s efficiency of mobilizing thousands of commuters, and travel time savings. Dedicated bus lanes ensured that commuters reach their destinations 10 to 15 minutes earlier than usual.

Rainbow bus-rapid-transit started off well but has failed to achieve its full potential. Ridership has only increased by 12-17 percent over the three years while the number of personal motor vehicles on the road has been growing unabated due to infrequency of buses. Considered a first for any urban area in India, Pune’s total number of vehicles has surpassed the human population!

Lack of cleanliness of stations areas attributed to the public’s demeaning perception of the system. Walking and cycling access to bus-rapid-transit stations is the dire need of the hour but yet to be developed along most corridors.  

In an era where financial resources are sparse but population growth is inevitable, large-scale public transport systems are difficult to conceive. An expansion of the the Rainbow system is being planned for an additional 45 km network. This is because the twin cities strongly believe that the Rainbow can provide a solid backbone to the urban transit system.

A major limitation to the bus-rapid-transit system is also the stigma that comes with being a ‘bus’. This can be addressed through better system design, well-maintained stations, and most importantly bus-only lanes to make the users feel like it worth leaving the car back at home.

Finally, for the success of any bus-rapid-transit system it is essential to periodically assess the infrastructure and operations of each corridor, and set benchmarks to ensures its longevity. Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad can aim for a ‘Rainbow’ future, learn from its shortfalls, and get back on the wheel to move its citizens.

 

 

Are flyovers the problem or the solution to traffic woes in Indian cities?

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The growing traffic problems in our cities calls for urgent and effective remedies. Yet old-school ‘solutions’ such as flyovers, wider roads, and elevated expressways actually make matters worse. Flyovers represent a twentieth century delusion of free flowing traffic, built at extraordinary costs for a very small percentage of road users.

Over decades, planning and development authorities around the world have fetishized the flyover as putative symbols of ‘modernity’ or ‘technological advancement’. Their actions to fuel the velocity and demand of private vehicles have shaped the urban space discourse. Flyovers continue to hack through the urbanscapes, displacing homes and economies.

In reality, while such infrastructure may provide a short-term illusion of relief from traffic woes, but by making it easier for people to use their own vehicles, new roads attract even more traffic and repeat the vicious cycle of congestion all over again.

Around the world, cities from Seoul to San Francisco are tearing down flyovers and/or rejuvenating dead spaces under the flyover with human scaled spaces that promote green modes of transport. In doing so, these cities have been able to reduce pollution, improve safety, and ensure that high quality public transport offers a meaningful alternative to sitting in traffic.

The Cheonggyecheon River Linear Park Project, Seoul

Cities in India have started to recognise that the key to urban mobility is moving people, not vehicles. In 2016, Ranchi (capital city of Jharkhand), a city for which ITDP India Programme has provided technical support since 2013, took bold steps and stalled the construction of two flyovers on Main Road.

The Urban Development and Housing Department, Government of Jharkhand, cancelled the flyover project that was proposed to decongest the city area, and instead focused on designing the street to prioritise the cleanest, most efficient modes: walking, cycling, and public transport.

Over a third of the population in India cities rely on walking, cycling, and other forms of human-powered transport to commute to work and get around cities every day.  Increasing the use of cycles and the ease of walking is one of the most affordable and practical ways to reduce CO2 emissions, while boosting health and access to economic opportunity.

Indian cities should also focus on public transport driven mobility. By international standards, our cities need 20-30 km of mass rapid transit for every 10 lakh (one million) residents. This means that the larger cities of the country like Chennai require over 300 km of rapid transit.  Currently, with only 100 km of suburban rail and metro combined, it would take two generations to build enough rapid transit in the city!

One of the most effective option to scale up the nation’s ability to provide high capacity public transport corridors is the Bus Rapid Transit, also known as the BRT. The system features dedicated median lanes for buses, allowing commuters to bypass the congestion in mixed traffic lanes.

A Bus Rapid Transit can carry anywhere between 10,000-30,000 people per hour per direction, which is approximately seven to eight times more than the capacity of a 2-lane flyover. The system can also be deployed quickly at a fraction of the cost of a flyover. A flyover costs approximately Rs 200 crores per km, whereas, a Bus Rapid Transit costs Rs 15-20 crores per km.

Cities like Seoul, San Francisco, Toronto, built flyovers between the 1950s and 1980s, only to pull them down later to make space for its people! To be ‘smart’, Indian cities must learn from these examples and best practises. Our cities should realise that such infrastructure only begets more traffic and pollution, and shift focus to prioritising walking, cycling, and the use of public transport.

Authored by Kashmira Dubash

MOBILIZE Dar es Salaam: Making space for Mobility in Booming Cities

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ANNOUNCEMENT: MOBILIZE is the annual sustainable transport summit of ITDP, which brings together urban transport and development practitioners alongside world-class researchers to celebrate best practices and accelerate implementation of sustainable transport projects.

Each year, ITDP and the Sustainable Transport Award Committee select a city that has implemented innovative sustainable transportation projects in the preceding year. These strategies improve mobility for all residents, reduce transportation greenhouse and air pollution emissions, and improve safety and access for cyclists and pedestrians. The winning city and honorable mentions are honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC in January.  The winning city hosts MOBILIZE later on that year.

Leaders from Dar es Salaam receiving the Sustainable Transport Award in Washington, D.C (PC ITDP Africa)

Over the last year, Dar es Salaam has launched a series of transformative improvements to transit, cycling and walking, the most important of which is the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, or DART. These efforts have made Dar es Salaam the first African city to win the prestigious Sustainable Transport Award in its 14-year history. The city will host the Mobilize Summit from 26-28 June 2018.

Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit system (PC: itdp.org)

What makes MOBILIZE unique is its structure. The summit gives transport professionals and researchers from around the world an opportunity to experience the STA winning city as a learning lab with lessons on how to get world class projects implemented. Interaction between researchers and practitioners foster greater global resource allocation toward the goals of making streets, transport systems, and cities the best possible places for people.  

Learn more about MOBILIZE agenda, speakers, and registration details at mobilizesummit.org.

Chennai’s journey to reclaim city streets for its people

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Chennai, a thriving South Indian metropolis and the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, is at the cusp of turning into one of the world’s megacities. While it historically had the image of being somewhat insular, the Chennai of today is a cosmopolitan hub where the old meets the new.

Transportation is the focus of many pressing issues facing Chennai today—decisions about whether to build highways or bus corridors have a great impact on our health and our environment.

ITDP India Programme initiated collaboration with Chennai City Connect in 2009 to improve cycling and walking conditions across the city. Change isn’t easy in cities where the car is a symbol for status.

But within five years of ITDP’s engagement with the city, Chennai took the bold move of adopting the Non Motorised Transport (NMT) Policy—first in India. The policy mandates that a minimum of 60 percent of of transport funding to create and maintain walking and cycling infrastructure in the city.

Having retrofitted over 50 km of walkable streets over the years, Chennai has initiated the next phase of redesigning an additional 50 km of street network. Chennai’s policy has inspired many national and international cities—from Chandigarh to Nairobi—to adopt similar policies. The comprehensive approach undertaken by Chennai, was awarded the Sustainia Award in 2015.

Watch how ITDP India has supported, and continues to support Chennai transform its streets for a better city, and better lives.

 

Our Cities Ourselves

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Over the recent decades, the impact of our city’s population growth has lead to a whole slew of transportation issues that we as citizens experience daily. Car-centric approaches continue to fail, and the need for solutions that improve people’s freedom to move is the dire need of the hour. Cities across the globe were provided the opportunity to not only shape their future — but to design it for its people.

Our Cities Ourselves: The Future of Transportation in Urban Life, kicked off a world-wide tour to exhibit the vision of ten major global cities along with the world’s leading Architects. The exhibit focused on eliminating the 21st century car-dependant model of urban sprawl by replacing it with a more sustainable, equitable, and liveable urban future with walking, cycling, and public transit.

Organised by ITDP to commemorate its 25th anniversary in 2010, the exhibition addressed urban solutions for ten major global cities: Ahmedabad, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Dar es Salaam, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Mexico City, New York City and Rio de Janeiro. The various approaches offered distinct takes that were shaped to fit the city’s different urban cultures.

In Ahmedabad, where the Indian edition of Our Cities Ourselves was launched, in partnership with Environmental Planning Collaborative and six leading Architects, initiated conversation about the city’s future over a four-month engagement. ITDP, along with its partners facilitated discussion on visioning Ahmedabad by organising an advisory committee of ten members from various local sectors.

The result – a vision that embraced the unique character of Ahmedabad and seeked a more equitable and environmentally sustainable future.

To bring this vision to life, the Architects—Kamal Mangaldas, Parul Zaveri & Nimish Patel, Rajeev Kathpalia, Bimal Patel, Aniket Bhagwat, and Apurva Amin—re-designed six sites across the city to transform them into streets and public spaces that were safe, comfortable, and accessible by all members of the society.

Central to the Our Cities Ourselves programme were the principles of transport in urban life: walk, cycle, connect, transit, mix, densify, compact and shift. These principles guided the design and the overall vision of the city.  The designs were also prepared in consultation with a Citizens Council formed by a group of eminent Ahmedabad residents, to reflect what the people of the city desired.

Visioning of a city is incomplete without the views of its citizens. Awareness and engagement of citizens can mean the difference between a city that withers under the presence of growing traffic & pollution and one that approaches these challenges with a proactive, determined response.

In this regard, the Our Cities Ourselves exhibition was a grander affair that showcased life-sized renderings of the six re-designed sites to reflect the vision of urban Ahmedabad. Thousands flocked to CEPT University to not only witness, but also be part of this journey that would change the face of their city.

The month long exhibition included a series of activities to engage with local citizens, Architects and Planners, and civic bodies. The exhibition included a series of activities: day-long design charrette with local architects, workshops on envisioning ‘a better Ahmedabad’ with key stakeholders such as Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, cycle-day for school student, a painting competition for school kids, and a movie night on street films.

The success of the exhibition was unparalleled, and resulted in two key wins for the city: the underlying principles and the vision of the city informed the revision of Ahmedabad’s Master Plan 2021, and it led way for citizen engagement for the much awaited Sabarmati Riverfront Project – the pride of the city.

Furthermore, the exhibit inspired decision-makers from many cities like Pune, Chennai, and Indore to initiate such thought-provoking discussions in their cities and kickstart various sustainable transport projects. With the widely positive response, the programme drove home the Our Cities Ourselves motto: ‘Livable today, sustainable for the future.’

Cities like Ahmedabad have started off well to meet the challenges of sustainability because “we simply can’t sustain the sort of automobile-dominated transportation systems that we have today”, Walter Hook, former Chief Executive Officer of ITDP. The successful city of the 21st century is one that is replete with travel choices, including walking, cycling, and public transit.  These cities will leap ahead of others by attracting people who demand a healthy and culturally rich lifestyle.

The Janmarg Story

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India, one of the most populous countries in the world, has experienced almost a fourfold increase in its population since independence 70 years ago. Urban India alone is expected to accommodate nearly 125 million new inhabitants in the next 15 years; that is roughly the size of Japan.

However, urban transport services and facilities have not kept pace with this unprecedented population growth. In recent decades, more and more people have welcomed private motor vehicles into their homes as cities fail to provide quality public transport infrastructure.

Short-sighted solutions such as building flyovers and widening roads increase dependence on personal motor vehicles for daily travel needs. The damage caused by this approach can be measured in rising road fatalities, degrading air quality, and unhealthy livelihoods.  

In an effort to curb these adverse impacts, Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, welcomed ITDP and other experts to reimagine bus-based transit in 2005.

The introduction of a bus system was not unconventional for the city; on the contrary, local buses plied on the streets of Ahmedabad but the quality of infrastructure and service conditions were dubious. Insufficient supply forced daily commuters to inch for room in overcrowded buses.

The city recognised the need for a quality bus-rapid-transit—ultimately buses are the most affordable, sustainable, and efficient way to carry a large number of people in the compact amount of street space. ITDP India’s partnership with Environment Planning Collaborative, and thereafter with CEPT University and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, resulted in the launch of Janmarg —India’s first high-quality bus-rapid-transit system.

Janmarg or ‘the people’s ways’, started operations in 2009, and has grown from a 12 km corridor to an 88 km network of bus-only-lanes. From its initial days, passenger numbers have increased from 18,000 to nearly 1.5 lakh people per day.

ITDP India along with other partners assisted the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation with physical designs, operational planning, and system contracting. To its merit, the system won six national and international awards in its first two years of operations; these included the Sustainable Transport Award in 2010 and ‘Best Intelligent Transport System from the Ministry of Urban Development’ by the Government of India in 2011.

The system adhered to bus-rapid-transit standards and principles. Dedicated bus-only-lanes were constructed in the centre of the road to ensure buses were not delayed due to traffic congestion and kept away from the busy kerbsides where vehicles were parked.

The journey on the Janmarg is much quicker because the BRT enjoys centre-aligned, bus-only lanes

Janmarg’s stations and bus fleet have a matching height for quick and easy step-less passenger boarding. This makes the system fully accessible to everyone, especially wheelchair-bound passengers and mothers with strollers. Off-board fare collection eliminates delays caused by passengers waiting to pay on board. With the right features in place, Janmarg has scored a Silver rating on the BRT Standard.

Since the station floor is at the same level as the bus floor, Janmarg BRT is easily accessible to individuals with limited mobility.

Janmarg set a national benchmark and inspired many Indian cities which, with guidance from ITDP, have created over two hundred kilometres of high-quality BRT to date. Janmarg itself was inspired by Bogotá’s TransMiIenio, one of the best in the world.

ITDP organised study tours for key public officials as well as future system operators to Bogotá. Public officials realised that a bus-rapid-transit system can bring many of the benefits of rail-transit systems — speed, convenience, comfort, image — while costing a fraction of the capital investment.

Janmarg started off well but has failed to achieve its full potential. Ridership has remained stagnant while the number of personal motor vehicles on the road has been growing unabated due to an absence of any steps to curb their ownership and usage. Enforcement of bus lanes is weak in some areas. Not enough steps have been taken to rationalise integrate informal public transport services provided by auto rickshaws.  

Ahmedabad took bold steps to make the Janmarg bus-rapid-transit the backbone of its urban transport system. It won fame but lost some. The city can learn from its shortfalls and get back on the wheel.  

Indian cities that dream of providing mobility to their citizens, boosting the local economy, and caring for the natural environment, must not miss the bus! Across the globe, citizens take pride in well-implemented bus-rapid-transit systems because of the convenience and efficiency it has to offer. The people of India deserve it too!