ITDP India

Promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide

Pune soon to become a cycling haven: Bicycle Plan approved

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“I would gladly leave my motorcycle home and cycle at least thrice a week if roads were made safer!”, said Deepti Gokhale, a working woman in Pune. Granting her wish and that of many others in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) General Body has approved a Comprehensive Bicycle Plan which envisages safe and convenient cycling conditions for existing and future cyclists in the city.

To transform this vision of a cycling haven into reality, the Plan provides several recommendations including the creation of a city-wide cycle track network, a public bicycle sharing system, design guidelines for cycle-friendly infrastructure, bicycle parking facilities and strategy for awareness campaigns. Its vision for integration with public transit prompts Pune’s citizens to use cycling for last-mile connectivity. With the Pune Bicycle Plan, PMC aims to improve the city’s share of cyclists from its current 3%[1] to 25% by 2031.

Today cycling constitutes a mere 3% of the city’s trips

Not long ago, cycling was a widely popular mode of transit, favored by most school and college students. However, today cycling constitutes a mere 3% of the city’s trips owing to congested, unsafe roads with over 500 motorized two-wheelers and cars being registered every day. In an effort to make Pune a cycle-friendly city again, the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, prepared in 2008, set an ambitious goal that “by 2031 at least half the trips in Pune i.e. 50%, should be by walk or cycle”[2]. To meet this goal, PMC set out to create a Bicycle Plan for the city, with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and encouragement from Parisar, a non-profit organization lobbying for sustainable transport.

The Corporation appointed a team of consultants, including iTrans, Prasanna Desai Architects and Centre for Environment Education (CEE), to create the plan.  The consultants surveyed over 11,000 people from various backgrounds for their travel patterns, views about cycling, willingness to shift, etc. A Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) was formed to oversee the progress of work, with regular cyclists and concerned citizens as key members. ITDP India Programme was also a part of the BAC and helped in periodically reviewing the Plan. Two rounds of public consultation took place before the drafted Bicycle Plan was submitted to the General Body for approval.

The fear of riding on roads with mixed traffic deters people from cycling regularly

One of the primary objectives of the Pune Bicycle Plan is the creation of a 300 km network of bicycle tracks in the city. The fear of riding on roads with mixed traffic deters people from cycling regularly. Segregated, user-friendly cycle tracks, like the one recently constructed on JM Road, will help put them back on their bicycles.

A key component of the Plan to support the cycle track network in the city is the Urban Cycling Design Guidelines for cycling infrastructure, like the physically segregated cycle tracks in high-speed roads, the visually segregated cycle lanes in medium-speed roads, shared use of cycles and motorised traffic in low-speed roads, and appropriate vegetation. The Plan details the width and material requirements to enable comfortable conditions for cyclists.

The public bicycle sharing (PBS) system proposed under the Plan aims to serve as another mode of transport for commuters and provide efficient last-mile connectivity for public transit users. The Plan suggests 388 stations and 4700 bicycles in the first phase, with a proposed total of 13100 docked bicycles. A dockless PBS system, recently piloted with 275 bicycles in three different areas of the city, has received great response from residents and four vendors dealing with dockless systems have recently signed an MoU with PMC.

Apart from the policy and design changes, the Plan also recommends awareness and outreach programmes to rejuvenate the culture of cycling in the city. As part of these programmes, several discussions have been conducted with multiple stakeholders such as schools and colleges, RTO, Traffic Police, various NGOs, cycle shops and corporate staff (as a part of their CSR initiative).

The year 2018 will see various measures for the implementation of the Cycle Plan

The year 2018 will see various measures for the implementation of the Cycle Plan, like the setting up of PMC’s Bicycle Department, re-construction and retrofitting of select existing cycle tracks, and the development of a training facility for cycle mechanics. With many such steps in place – and in the pipeline – for the improvement of all sustainable transportation modes, Pune is becoming an incredibly ‘smart’ city indeed!

 

[1]“The mode share of cycles, elicited from the household survey carried out in 2016 for the Pune Cycle Plan is 3%. This is a much smaller proportion as compared to the modal share of 2012 from Pune Metro DPR study which shows 9% of cycle as a mode share.”- Comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan, 2017
[2] Currently, walking and cycling constitute 32% of the trips made in the city

A year of radical planning, 2017 passes by…

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“I used to take my two-wheeler to travel the 3 kilometers between my house and the railway station. I’m now able to walk the stretch, thanks to the continuous footpath. Best part – I’ve lost 5 kilos and my diabetes!” Mr. Manimaran, a resident of Egmore in Chennai, is thrilled at the tremendous change that a safer and better footpath has brought about in his life.

The year 2017 witnessed many such impactful changes in the field of sustainable transportation all around the country, including cities which ITDP India Programme has been closely working with. Thanking all our supporters, we take a look at the year that passed by.

Pune broke ground on its ambitious Complete Streets networks – a 100km-network with its own financial resources and 45km through support from the National Smart Cities Mission. The first phase of these street design projects on JM Road and DP Road has already been lauded by the country, owing to the vibrancy of these redesigned streets. Pune’s Bicycle Plan, recently approved by the General Body, paves way for the creation of a 300km bicycle-track network in the city.

Having accomplished over 40km of Complete Streets, Chennai initiated the next phase of street design by inviting tenders in late October to redesign 22km of streets. The city tested out the design of 5 key intersections through a tactical urbanism approach – quick, temporary, on-ground interventions. Chennai also conducted another trial run of the proposed pedestrian plaza in Pondy Bazaar, the success of which fetched the project a sanction of of Rs 55 crores (~US $9 million) under the Smart Cities Mission.

Smaller cities have also made remarkable progress this year in their Complete Streets programmes – Nashik appointed nationally-acclaimed urban designers to redesign its proposed street network of 50 kilometers, with 10 kilometers tendered out; and Coimbatore commenced construction of its Model Roads and hosted an interactive exhibition to inform the people of the design of the roads while collecting feedback. Coimbatore also started developing detailed implementation plans for its Greenways and Lake Restoration Project, which includes a 30km network of greenways (exclusive walking and cycling infrastructure) that crisscross the city and connect 8 water bodies.

Becoming one of the pioneering cities in parking management in the country, Ranchi implemented a progressive on-street parking management system on its busiest thoroughfare, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, with a twelve-fold increase in revenue. Inspired by the success of the pilot, the city has proposed to refine and expand the system to cover all key locations. The state of Jharkhand has also proposed to adopt a state-level parking policy.

Chennai recently invited tenders to select an operator for its proposed on-street parking management system covering 12000 equivalent car spaces on Bus Route Roads across the city. Since Pune is also working towards parking management, ITDP, in collaboration with  GIZ-SUTP,  facilitated and managed a two-day workshop on the topic, with international parking expert, Dr Paul Barter in the city. Participants included municipal officials, traffic police, public officials from other agencies as well as various local stakeholders.

An increase in demand for better public transport has provided the fillip to cities across the country to increase and improve their transit services. Chennai made considerable advancement in its BRT planning, with the interim report for Phase I approved by the state and a series of public consultation programmes organised to explain the significance of BRT to people and get their feedback on the various corridors.

In Pune, around 130 crore rupees was sanctioned to construct 13 new bus terminals to facilitate better integration of bus services with the proposed Metro Rail network. The city also commenced work on expanding the existing 38km Rainbow BRT by an additional 15km. Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) initiated the process of adding 200 feeder buses to its fleet, to improve connectivity between the city and the surrounding towns.

Public bicycle sharing (PBS) is emerging as a popular mode of public transit across the country. Pune piloted a dockless PBS system with 275 bicycles and signed an MoU with 4 vendors dealing with dockless systems. Two other cities are preparing for the installation of a PBS system – Ranchi and Chennai invited operators to submit proposals for setting up 1264 bicycles in 122 stations (Phase 1) and 5000 bicycles in 378 designated parking areas, respectively.

Successful and sustained on-ground changes invariably require the backing of well-framed guidelines, policies and financial plans – 2017 was marked by many of these. Two sets of guidelines – the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) planning and design guidelines, and the Guidelines on Control and Regulation of Mixed Traffic in Urban Areas – prepared by ITDP, were approved by the apex committee of the Indian Roads Congress. These guidelines will apply for all cities across India and guide them towards low-carbon mobility.

The Government of Jharkhand adopted an inclusive TOD policy that focuses on equitable development of cities in the state, so that a majority of the population lives and works in areas with safe and accessible walking and cycling facilities integrated with reliable and high-quality public transport.

The Government of Maharashtra published a draft of the State Urban Transport Policy, which promotes low-carbon & equitable mobility and urban development by prioritising public transport (PT) and non-motorised transport (NMT). Furthermore, over half of Pune’s total transportation budget of 1100 crore rupees was allocated towards sustainable transport development for the financial year 2017-18. In the South, Coimbatore adopted a Street Design and Management Policy that focuses on creating equitable and sustainable mobility options and expanding their use.

The realisation that sustainable urban development will remain elusive without integrating women’s safety and comfort in urban transport, has generated momentum to include gender as a key factor in transport planning. Bringing this subject to the fore and as a first of its kind, a paper on Women and Transport in Indian Cities was created by ITDP and Safetipin, and released at a national workshop on gender and transit conducted by the two organisations. This paper identifies indicators, service level benchmarks and processes for integrating a gender perspective in urban transport projects, policies and programs along with good practice case studies.   

 

2017 was a year of radical planning indeed, with many grand plans conceived, developed and initiated for sustainable transportation. With all these plans set to materialize in the coming months, 2018 will be a year of implementation and tangible transformation. Looking forward to a great year ahead: Happy New Year!

PT InFocus: Women in Public Transport

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Collated by Sai Ratna Chaitanya Gurugubelli

Transportation plays a key role in women upliftment, by allowing them access to opportunities both outside the transport sector and within. It is pivotal to integrate women’s concerns in urban transport programmes and projects. However, our urban transportation system and facilities are only gradually becoming women-friendly, with much more left to be done. This week’s PT InFocus brings to you news about public transport from the woman’s perspective.


Lactation Rooms soon in Bengaluru bus stands

Breastfeeding mothers who use public transport regularly in Bengaluru can heave a sigh of relief – women’s lounges with lactation rooms are soon to be set up in BMTC bus stops, on a Rs.2.25 Crore budget under the Nirbhaya fund. “We had received several suggestions for a space for breastfeeding at bus stations. Many travelling women wait at bus terminals for long hours, but there are no facilities at most places for them to be able to feed their babies privately. Tamil Nadu has it. It is a good plan and appreciated by many. So, we have decided to set it up in Bengaluru,” a senior BMTC official told The News Minute.


No relief: basic amenities lacking for women bus conductors of TSRTC

Despite Corporation’s efforts to bridge gender gaps in employment, basic amenities such as toilets and drinking water remain lacking. “Padma (name changed), a conductor with the Greater Hyderabad zone of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has made a mark in a male-dominated professional space. However, relieving herself while on board is still a challenging part of her job. With no toilet facilities available at any of the city bus stops or change-over-points, not just Padma, but all the 1,670 women bus conductors have no choice but to wait till they reach the respective bus depots before using the toilets”, reports The New Indian Express.


PT in Canada – Women in front-line jobs on the rise

The public transport industry that has been heavily male-dominated until now is witnessing changes in its organisational structure – the biggest transit agencies in Canada have made major strides in recent years bringing on female staff. “Half the senior leadership of the government agency that runs Toronto-area commuter transit is female…From a rarity to a substantial presence, women are now more common on the front lines and especially in executive boardrooms.” However, a lot is left to be done – “if you visit the washrooms in the executive wing of the head office, the guys [still] get twice the facilities and at least three times as much space.” Find out more on The Globe and Mail.

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PT InFocus: Public-private partnerships for better PT

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Cover Image – Source: BOMBMAN

This new series PT InFocus presents to you news about public transport from around the world, including Indian cities. With governments across the globe aiming to strengthen their public transport networks, public-private partnerships are being encouraged in order to meet the resource demand. This fortnight’s InFocus focuses on such partnerships – measures being taken to invite private investments and some initiatives by PPPs.

 

New Metro Rail Policy approved – encourages compact urban development, multi-modal integration and private investments

In this age when Indian Cities are aspiring to develop effective mass rapid transit systems, the new Metro Rail Policy approved by the Cabinet serves as a guiding light.  To encourage private investments to meet the huge demand of a metro project, the policy makes the PPP component mandatory to avail central assistance. Prior to the selection of the Metro, an Alternate Analysis evaluating other modes of mass transit like BRTS, Regional Rail, etc, has been mandated by the policy.To improve usage, the new policy seeks to ensure that States provide necessary last mile connectivity through feeder services, Non-Motorised Transport infrastructure like walking and cycling pathways and introduction of para-transport facilities. The Press Information Bureau – Govt. of India states other key points of the policy.


KTC partners with Scania: buses powered by alternate fuel ply in Goa

“Goa has always been known as India’s leading tourist hub. Our beaches, churches, and culture have attracted tourists from across the world. Now is the time to preserve the natural beauty this state is known for, by switching to non-polluting transport solutions. We are excited to partner with Scania Commercial Vehicles, and look forward to working closely with them to transition our beautiful state to a cleaner, greener and better future”, said ­­­­Derick P Neto, managing director, Kadamba Transport Corporation, at the launch of the green buses on August 15, as reported in Autocar Professional.


A TRANSIT PROBLEM : DART’s focus on rail hurts those who need transit most

“Now that DART has completed the lion’s share of its light rail build-out, it’s time for the agency to focus much more on buses, at least until it can develop a service plan that adequately serves the riders who most depend on it. That means a tougher look at some of the light-rail plans already on DART’s books, and it will mean money for more buses, more stops and more routes. Without these investments, and without at least a temporary reordering of priorities, the working poor in Dallas are going to continue to have their backs up against the wall as they attempt to work themselves out of poverty. Dallas News compares ridership and other parameters to make a case for DART’s bus service.

Vibrant Pune: City’s streets transform into vital public spaces

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By Nashwa Naushad 

“On our firm course towards sustainable transportation, we are also transforming Pune into a great city for the people, with numerous initiatives to encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport”, said Mr. Kunal Kumar, IAS, the commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation. Indian cities are gradually taking greater efforts to improve the quality of life for its citizens, especially in terms of transportation. Pune has come to be a pioneer in this regard.

Among the host of people-oriented initiatives being undertaken by the city, Pune has been working to improve its pedestrian and cycling environment by redesigning its arterial roads as Complete Streets. 27km of streets have been identified for redesign, in the ABD (Area-Based Development) area as part of the Smart City proposal, and 100km under the city’s annual budget. The first phase of these street design projects has already transformed Aundh’s DP Road and JM Road into more vibrant public spaces.

The Jangli Maharaj or JM Road bustles with people and activity – a vibrant street indeed

Complete Streets are those that cater to all user groups – designed with wide and continuous footpaths, safe pedestrian crossings, separate cycle tracks where applicable, conveniently placed bus stops, clearly designated on-street parking, organised street vending and properly-scaled carriageways. With the Smart Cities Mission encouraging the improvement of non-motorised and public transport infrastructure, cities across India are now developing networks of complete streets. Pune has gone over and beyond the Smart City proposal, by setting over twice that target with the Corporation’s own budget.

As the first step towards redesigning the 100km network, Pune Municipal Corporation has empanelled 4 nationally acclaimed architecture and urban design firms – IBI Group Inc., HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd., Oasis Designs Inc. and Design & Planning Counsel. The network has been equally divided and allocated to the designers. Each firm thus gets a ‘package’ of streets, ensuring uniformity in design language and better integration on ground.

Following PMC’s footsteps, Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. is also allotting the 27km network in the ABD Area as 3 neighbourhoods to the empanelled designers. 9km of streets in 1 neighbourhood, including DP Road in Aundh, has been contracted to the IBI Group in partnership with Prasanna Desai Architects.

DP Road in Aundh has been redesigned with dedicated spaces for different users

The first phase of reconstruction under the Smart City Mission has commenced on DP Road. The 1.5km stretch is being remodelled by the designers, kickstarting 520m on the ground. The 3.5m wide footpath on either side of the street has been streamlined to dedicate spaces for different users.

The numerous existing trees that line the stretch have been fundamentally incorporated in the design, with care taken to demarcate soft areas around them to allow for growth, and the perimeter forming seating. In addition, benches have also been provided along the footpath, complementing the shops and making the stretch more vibrant. Art installations, including the attractive casing that has been used to cover up the junction boxes, spruce up the space. Other features such as life-sized snake & ladder boards on the footpath further augment the character of DP Road.

Design features on DP Road: (clockwise from left) Art installations with recycled material; attractive casing covering up the junction boxes; play area for children

Similarly, JM Road, being revamped by Oasis Designs Inc., has also been kicked off on a 300m stretch as part of the first phase.Streamlining the haphazard parking has helped reclaim space for the people, enabling a wider footpath and cycle track. Green spaces serve as buffers to segregate the two speeds of walking and cycling. Bus stops have been located so as to allow for smooth flow of pedestrians and cyclists.

Vendors now have dedicated spaces, as do children – play areas with rubberised soft flooring have been designed at regular intervals between the green buffers. Frontage of the shops spillover to the wide footpath, adding life to the street. Better signage, street lighting and seating are other features that collectively make JM Road a stellar example of street design in the country.

Green spaces serve as buffers to segregate the two speeds of walking and cycling. Bus stops have been located so as to allow for smooth flow of pedestrians and cyclists.

Backing these design changes in the city, are institutional reforms that help enhance the capacity of the government. A dedicated Street Design Cell has been set up with professionals such as urban designers and urban planners to oversee general maintenance of streets and work done by design consultants & contractors, in addition to designing neighborhood streets. The Corporation has also developed a unique set of Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG) which give clear priority to walking and cycling.

Streets are vital public spaces which go beyond serving as mere channels for the movement of vehicles, but are crucial to the very identity of a city. Acknowledging this fact, Pune is remodelling its streets to respond to the multitude of activities and functions they host. The city thus continues firmly on its course towards becoming more people-friendly by the day.

MOBILIZE Santiago Speaker Series: Paula Bisiau, Department of Transport- Buenos Aires

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With the recent election of former mayor Mauricio Macrí as president, the city of Buenos Aires should now have greater support from the Argentine government. Down at the local level, meanwhile, the city of 3 million continues to push for innovations that will bring Argentina’s capital and largest city into the 21st century. On the transport front, a young, dynamic official is leading the way. Paula Bisiau, Assistant Secretary for Sustainable Mobility, has a handle on everything that porteños (the city’s inhabitants) can count on to help them get around this charming South American city. Visitors may be captivated by tango and parrilla, but they should also pay attention to bike share, BRT, and pedestrianization.

Paula spoke to us about MOBILIZE Santiago‘s theme, “Just and Inclusive Cities Become the New Normal” and the future of BRT & cycling in Buenos Aires.

ITDP: The theme of MOBILIZE Santiago is “just and inclusive cities become the new normal”. How does Buenos Aires’ transport system live up to this ideal?

Paula Bisiau: Having a good network of diverse and well-connected transport is part of having an inclusive and fair city. So, in that sense, Buenos Aires has worked hard for at least 8 to 9 years to improve its public transport network. The reality is that in Buenos Aires, the use of public transport is very high. Almost 80% of trips are completed using public transport, on foot, or by bicycle. This means that in Buenos Aires we can talk about a city, in that sense, as fair and equitable because there is public transport throughout the city and the cost is relatively low.

Then, there is the whole accessibility point of view, the inclusion of all people with different abilities. In that sense, we still need more work. However, we have begun to design the streets and sidewalks so that they can be crossed by children, the elderly, and people in wheelchairs.

What other cities around the world are the most interesting to you in the area of mobility?
Recently I was in two cities that were very interesting: Copenhagen, obviously, on the one hand, and Tokyo on the other. Tokyo is very different, but with a spectacular subway network, and especially with lots of information facilitated by technology. I was astonished by how I was able to get around so easily and plan my trip within a city I didn’t know, in a country where obviously I didn’t speak the language.

I also find Paris interesting and innovative. And what I find interesting about a city like Paris is that it’s a city that preserves all its heritage and history, but constantly renews itself. This power of renewal is very interesting. They started with Paris Plages, then what they did with Les Berges de la Seine was also very innovative. Other cities had already done what they did with bike share. But what they did was fill the city with public bicycles everywhere. And they encouraged all that in a city that was already fully built, which already had many residents and businesses everywhere.

To name a Latin American city, I would say São Paulo also has many innovations for being a megalopolis. I was there maybe two years ago for the first time, and the truth is that I was amazed. Their transportation is also spectacular. But still, they still have things that are not as good as they could be, like urban highways. Not that everything is fine, but as big as the city is, they are still doing a good job. For example, on road safety, they took certain actions that are not easy to take politically, like reducing the maximum speed. And those are difficult political measures to take. But they did so, and thanks to that, they managed to reduce the number of road casualties. Cities have to take risks on new measures in order to improve.

In 2014, Buenos Aires won the Sustainable Transport Award for giving Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, a transport and pedestrian makeover. Three years later, how are these interventions improving the quality of life in Buenos Aires?
The implementation of transit on Avenida 9 de Julio translated into shorter trips for those who used public transport, because all the buses that passed through downtown are now funneled onto the 9 de Julio Metrobus [BRT]. There was a reduction of almost 50% in travel times.

Road accidents were reduced because the average speed of cars was reduced. Within what is called the pedestrian zone, the maximum speed is now 10 km per hour.  The entire downtown area was once very noisy and heavily polluted. The air and noise pollution levels dropped a lot. Before it was impossible to even have a conversation there.  Now there is economic development, adding life beyond the offices and banks.  Nightlife is beginning to come up in that neighborhood and we hope soon enough that will create the possibility of people moving downtown.

Buenos Aires continues to roll out new BRT stations in its Metrobus system (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Wikimedia Commons)

What is the next big mobility project around the city?
We’re continuing to develop the Metrobus network. Along 9 de Julio you have the Bajo [Lower] area, near the port. We are adding Metrobus to Bajo and that is also going to be an important change. We are also pedestrianizing part of the area on the other side of 9 de Julio, where the Palace of Justice is; another area where there are also many pedestrians.

There are also two new projects: One that is called Paseo del Bajo, in order to get the trucks out. Buenos Aires is a port city and we have many trucks coming from the port. For that, we found a solution to stop them from going through the city. This project broke ground in May and will be finished in two years. The other is a new regional rail that will connect the Constitución area with the Retiro area.

A cyclist takes advantage of new protected bike infrastructure (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Wikimedia Commons)

Has the number of people that use bicycles in Buenos Aires grown in the last few years and if so, why?
Yes, mainly because we started building cycle tracks in the most populated areas of the city, places where people go to work and where people live. We started in downtown and continued to the periphery of different neighborhoods. Today we have 180 km of bike lanes and cycle tracks in almost every area of the city.

The number also increased thanks to the public bikeshare system, Ecobici. A lot of work went into education and promotion. We convinced the city of the idea of ​​cycling by talking about cycling in every sector.  However, if I were to give you one main reason, people did not ride a bicycle in Buenos Aires because of road safety issues. In fact, we conducted surveys, and people already owned bikes.  Buenos Aires is flat and has a relatively pleasant climate. The main reason they weren’t using it was because of road safety.

Ecobici used to operate on a valet system, now it has docking stations. What was the impact of this shift?
Regardless of how it works, the system itself is very popular because it is free. Today, we have more than 200,000 users who have taken more than 5 million trips. We are working to build out the system with 200 stations and 2,500 bicycles. We currently have 1,900 bikes.

Last year was a difficult time for us because of vandalism and theft. That was something we had not planned for and that had not happened in other cities. This, for example, made us stagnate on the number of bike trips in the year 2016. Now in 2017, we are growing again.

Taking out a bike from Ecobici’s new docked system (Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Wikimedia Commons)

Do you think that Ecobici will ever go dockless?

We’re studying that. First we want to finish installing these 200 stations that we have planned. Then we want to understand what new technologies are being implemented in other cities around the world. When we think about the growth of this system, we want to move toward what is more innovative and what is working best. Because of our vandalism experience, I have to see to what extent it can work in Buenos Aires, but it seems fantastic to me- much more flexible as a system. All of us who think about transport think this way: having innovation that is flexible because cities are dynamic, technologies change, and we have to be open to adapting.

[one_fourth][/one_fourth] This interview is a part of the MOBILIZE Santiago Speaker Series.  In this series, we will feature interviews with researchers from VREF’s Future Urban Transport where we will discuss their work in sustainable transport and reflecting on MOBILIZE Santiago’s theme: Just and Inclusive Cities Become the New Normal.  To learn more about MOBILIZE Santiago and how you can register to attend the summit in Chile, visit mobilizesummit.org.

 

MOBILIZE Santiago Speaker Series: Simon Lusby, Transport for London

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Founded in 1863, the world-famous London Underground, also known as the Tube, may just be the planet’s most iconic subway system, from its “mind the gap” warning to its circular red logo to its storied history as a bomb shelter during World War II. While it transports a hefty 1.37 billion passengers annually, up on street level, the city’s equally iconic red buses – many of them the ever-popular double deckers – host more than 2 billion passenger trips per year.

Enter Simon Lusby, a senior strategist at Transport for London, the British capital’s transit agency. He’s part of the surface transport team, which means even if the Tube is the symbol of London mobility, he is working daily to make sure the bus system is just as much up to snuff.

Lusby spoke to us about how London’s bus system fits with MOBILIZE Santiago‘s theme Just and Inclusive Cities Become the New Normal,what he hopes to learn from the annual MOBILIZE summit in June, and the future for buses in London.

Simon Lusby, senior strategist at Transport for London, the British capital’s transit agency

ITDP: The theme of MOBILIZE Santiago is “just and inclusive cities become the new normal”. How does London’s transport system live up to this ideal?

Simon Lusby: How we’re planning transport needs to be as inclusive as possible. The new approach to street design (the “Healthy Streets Approach”), for example, is all about inclusion of everyone on the street. Not just one mode, not just healthy people, but actually getting more people out there and making spaces available for everyone.

I think London fits within that quite nicely, with that not only becoming the norm but also being the expectation here. Our bus network is very much at that level. For example, it’s already wheelchair accessible and our passengers are representative of Londoners. So from that point of view, I’d say London could be one of the flagship places where “just and inclusive cities” becomes the norm.

What are you hoping to learn from the city of Santiago’s transportation experience at MOBILIZE?

Listening to Santiago, I’m interested in buses. London has a very developed bus network but we need to look to other cities where they’ve had to address many of the challenges we currently face. London is still improving our approach to multi-modal development and that’s what we need to be learning from other cities. That’s what I hope to take away from MOBILIZE – like integration of public transport, particularly with cycling.

What cities around the world are you most interested in today, as in who’s doing the most innovative work in your field?

In terms of bus rapid transit, there is actually a lot of it here in the UK, like in Cambridge and Manchester. I’m more interested in a few key things. One, is integrating buses with cycling. Seattle has done that quite well. Another is thinking about how do you stretch corridors together. How do you get bus transit through a really, really dense metropolitan environment? I’m quite keen to gain some more experience from New York on this. I also want our London Underground users to feel like they are still part of the same public transport network and have options on how they can travel when they transfer to a bus.

New bus revenue generation project livery trial on the 150 bus, Barkingside, London. ©Transport for London

You’ve mentioned buses a number of times. How has Transport for London been so successful increasing public transit mode share, especially on buses?

Without buses, there are areas where one has very little public transport. But now there are bus routes everywhere. 95% of households live within 4oo meters of a bus service. So that goes to show that this network we’re covering is more abundant than people had ever thought.

We’ve got control of the bus network and some of the road space, which has been central. Starting in about 2000, Transport for London put in a lot of buses and that made the services far more reliable. Then in 2003 came the congestion charge. People have to pay to enter the center city, which means that there are very few private cars in the city and that helped the bus network again hugely. Simple things like contactless payment – the Oyster card – made it far more seamless between using the Tube and using the bus.

You know the bus is coming during the day. You don’t have to mess around with schedules or anything like that. There’s probably going to be a bus arriving in a few minutes. Unfortunately though, that high frequency costs money and we still have to continue to adapt our network to support the Tube and the new Elizabeth Line. It’s an underground train line between Heathrow east London via Canary Wharf that will absorb the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington Station. It will become the city’s main line, carrying twice the capacity of the other lines. But you can’t build one of these every year. It takes a lot of time and money.

With flashy new infrastructure like the Elizabeth Line coming in, what is the importance of a bus-based transport for a city that has such an extensive subway system?

That goes back to the original question of inclusiveness. If you pulled out the buses, which are completely wheelchair accessible, you’re no longer inclusive. So we tend to maintain bus lines even directly above Tube lines because you need that accessibility and people rely on it. When you think about how many different layers there are in the Tube, going deep down into the stations, for some people you don’t want to be going up and down all that.

New Northern Ticket Hall opened at Victoria Station ©Transport for London

How does Transport for London collect data on bus ridership?

We have our Oyster Card, which is a tap-on, tap-off system that tracks journeys. That means we don’t know the Tube route you took, we just know what station you went in and what station you come out of.  From that Oyster data we can then understand connections like bus to Tube to bus. We’ve also got iBus which allows us to check the speed of the bus. We can then look at the speed of that service for any delays, as well as gaps between service that are impacting on ridership. If something goes wrong on the Tube, like delays, we can calculate fairly accurately how many people will be affected. So we try to take the knowledge we’ve learned on the Tube and apply it to bus.

 

[one_fourth][/one_fourth] This interview is a part of the MOBILIZE Santiago Speaker Series.  In this series, we will feature interviews with researchers from VREF’s Future Urban Transport where we will discuss their work in sustainable transport and reflecting on MOBILIZE Santiago’s theme: Just and Inclusive Cities Become the New Normal.  To learn more about MOBILIZE Santiago and how you can register to attend the summit in Chile, visit mobilizesummit.org.

Santiago: Winner of STA, Host of MOBILIZE 2017

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Bus Rapid Transit (km) 92 | BRT Passengers (per day) 50,000 | Bike Share Stations 175 | Total Bike Share Bikes 2600 | Total Cyclist (per day) 40,000| Cycling Infrastructure (km) 36 

Santiago, the Chilean capital with an urban population of five million, and a metro area population of over seven million, is a beautiful old-world city enjoying a modern day renaissance. Despite the city’s attempt to improve transport for its people through its BRT Transantiago in 2006, it had been lagging behind other cities in the region on cycling and walking.

However, between 2015-16, non-motorised (walking and cycling) and public transportation in Santiago underwent significant development, transforming the city into a haven for its citizens. Santiago was thus announced as the winner of the 2017 Sustainable Transport Award (STA). The city will be hosting ITDP’s annual sustrans summit MOBILIZE between June 28 – 30, 2017.

Our Indian government also aims to implement such people-friendly mobility initiatives through the Smart City Mission, and can draw on the lessons of Santiago at MOBILIZE. Amongst other attendees from India, Sameer Sharma, Additional Secretary & Smart City Mission Director, MoUD will also be at the summit. As a speaker, he will be sharing his thoughts on how a city can be made inclusive through principles of mobility and access.

Car ownership has soared in Chile over the past decade along with the economy, with the number of cars bough increasing each year from 2003 to 2014. Greater Santiago is now home to seven million people, and four million cars. However, the last few years have seen considerable changes. Owing to the significant improvements in transit, cycling & walking, and the overall public realm, as a result of the city’s Integrated Mobility Plan, more Santiaguinos have shifted to these modes to get around their city.

Santiago’s Calle Aillavilú, in the central market of the city, has been transformed from a derelict, car-congested and unregulated parking lot to a pedestrian-friendly oasis. The street was repaved, lighting improved, new trees were planted, and most importantly, cars were removed. Except for the scheduled delivery of goods, no motorized traffic is allowed. Calle Placer, one of the busiest pedestrian streets during a popular weekend market, is now completely closed to cars on the weekends, with a 2.2 million USD investment by the city for improved sidewalks, lighting, and sanitation.

On Sunday mornings, cars are banned from 40 kilometers of Santiago’s roads. Around 30,000 people take to those vehicle-free streets on bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, or simply on foot. The Car-Free days in many Indian cities have also been highly successful and can be scaled up, learning from Santiago. 

The redesigned Plaza de Armas in the city centre, to prioritise pedestrians

Other public space improvements include an investment in 100 sqm. of new green spaces in historic residential neighborhoods, revitalizing a previously abandoned area, and the re-design of the Historical Center’s main streets, featuring more sidewalk space, improved lighting, beautification, and a “complete streets” redesign for public transport exclusive corridors in the most active pedestrian zone in the country.

Cycling mode share has doubled since 2006, with the number of cyclists on major routes growing by 25 percent a year for the past two years. The City has backed up this achievement with new sustainable transport policy changes and education programs. In April 2015, the National Ministry of Housing and Urbanism created a detailed standard of design for high quality cycle lanes, even piloting it in a major street near the presidential palace. The policy redistributes road spaces to create more space for cyclist. This standard was quickly adopted by Santiago, and the city has managed to increase cycling trips from a negligible 150 per day to over 5000 per day.

Cycle Lanes in Santiago

This number is expected to further rise with the growing popularity of BikeSantiago, the city’s bike share program, which accounts for 50 percent of the increase. Santiago also gave support to BMov Trici, a free bicycle taxi in the historic city center operated by a private company, supported by advertising, that encourages cycle use and provides a non-motorized alternative to taxis.

The city has also adopted a pilot program of cycling games in kindergarten to help introduce cycling early in life and a traffic education program at primary schools to create better cyclist behavior.

The cycling games program intends to familiarize children with cycling culture and safety

With all these efforts to improve the quality of life for the people, Santiago won STA 2017 and will be the site of Mobilize 2017, ITDP’s annual Sustainable Transport Summit, supported by the Volvo Research and Education Foundations. This event will give international transportation researchers and professionals an opportunity to experience this emerging city as a learning lab for best practices in sustainable transport. For more information, visit mobilizesummit.org

 

ITDP’s annual sustrans summit MOBILIZE in Santiago this year

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For three days next month, 200 urban transport and development planners, practitioners, and officials, world-class researchers, and NGO representatives will convene in Santiago to share opportunities, challenges, and study the example of Santiago as an international best practice in pedestrian, cycling, public transit, and policy. Organizers expect representatives from around 20 nations to attend the MOBILIZE Summit, June 28-30, to be held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Speakers will include Dr. Philipp Rode, Executive Director of LSE Cities at The London School of Economics, Laura Ballesteros, Undersecretary of Planning for the Secretariat of Mobility of Mexico City, Shin-pei Tsay, Executive Director of the Gehl Institute, and Dr. Sameer Sharma, Additional Secretary & Smart City Mission Director, Ministry of Urban Development, India.

(Left to Right) Philipp Rhode, Laura Ballesteros, Shin-pei Tsay and Sameer Sharma

MOBILIZE is an annual summit organized by ITDP. The summit aims to elevate the winner of the annual Sustainable Transport Award. MOBILIZE spotlights the achievements of the winning city and gives transport professionals and researchers from around the world an opportunity to experience the city as a learning lab with lessons on how to get world class projects implemented.

Last June, Santiago was announced as the winner of the Sustainable Transport Award, selected for major improvements in pedestrian space, cycling, and public transit, by a committee of international transport experts. Together, the STA and MOBILIZE highlight an elite group of international cities that inspire and catalyze more cities around the world to implement transport solutions of their own.

Director of Mobility Miguel Olivares accepting the award award from STA Committee Chair, Michael Kodransky, at the ceremony in Washington, DC

“MOBILIZE will bring together leading thinkers and city shapers for a capacity building opportunity using Santiago as a learning laboratory. Santiago was chosen this year for implementing strategic projects that focus on improving walking conditions as a top priority,” said Michael Kodransky, Chair of the STA Committee and Head of MOBILIZE, “Walking infrastructure and access to transit stations are a big concern for cities all over the world. Santiago has made walking, cycling, and public transit in the city center a key component of improving quality of life and easing congestion. The lessons and challenges from Santiago will surely resonate with other municipalities.”

Participants, including representatives from the Municipality of Santiago, Santiago Metro region, and the Chilean Ministries of Transport and Housing, will spend half the day in workshops sharing ideas and best practices in sustainable transport, development, and urban planning, and half the day on site visits in and around the city, including visits to Transantiago, the public bicycle and cycle network, and a walking tour of the newly-redesigned streets in the city center.

“We are very pleased to participate in MOBILIZE, and welcome participants to this key global summit on sustainable transport. This June, the eyes of the sustainable transport community will be on Santiago, and those who visit us will find a very interesting opportunity to learn from these new changes and advances that our municipality, and the city region, have made,” said the Mayor of the Municipality of Santiago, Felipe Alessandri.

ITDP is organizing the summit in partnership with the Volvo Research and Education Foundation (VREF), and additional sponsors, and is consulting with a local host committee as planning moves forward.

  • Mayor Felipe Alessandri, Host
  • Juan Carlos Muñoz, Chair, Director of the Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence
  • Claudio Orrego, Intendant of the Metropolitan Region
  • Paulina Saball, Minister of Housing and Urbanism
  • Claudio Olivares Medina, Bicivilizate

2017 will be the second annual MOBILIZE Summit. The first was held in 2016 in Yichang, China by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in co-operation with VREF and the City of Yichang. More information on MOBILIZE Yichang is available.

Sustainable transport and development professionals interested in attending should contact Nora.Pena@itdp.org to request an invitation.  Members of the press interested in attending should contact Jemilah.Magnusson@itdp.org . For more information, visit mobilizesummit.org.

 

Coimbatore’s sustrans initiatives lauded by international experts

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“Sustainable change through transport is something that needs to be discussed at length. However, what is missing from these conversations is the participation of actual commuters. Those who use public transport, those who walk, those who cycle. Here in Coimbatore, though, actual users of public spaces and public transport are very involved in these discussions,” says Mr. Clayton Lane, CEO of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, sharing how thoroughly impressed he was at the level of community involvement in Coimbatore.

Inspired by livable cities across the world, Coimbatore has kicked off various sustainable transport (sustrans) initiatives, and these changes in the cityscape are being brought about with incredible public support. The city’s sustrans initiatives include — the Model Roads project to design safe streets for all, encouraging more walking and cycling, and the Lake Eco-restoration project to rejuvenate eight lakes in the city and create a 30km eco-mobility corridor around them.

To discuss Coimbatore’s transformation through sustrans initiatives, experts from the field were at Coimbatore on March 18, 2017, to add their inputs as well as learn about the process that has been initiated.

Picture showing a 10m pilot stretch on DB Road that is being constructed as part of the “Model Roads” initiative

Picture showing a cross-section through the underground ducts of a 10m pilot stretch on DB Road that is being constructed as part of the “Model Roads” initiative

“It all started with the Car-free Sundays initiative”, said Dr. K. Vijayakarthikeyan IAS, Commissioner of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, during the round-table discussion. He explained how the car-free Sundays event helped create awareness about the need for walking and cycling infrastructure, becoming a milestone in Coimbatore’s journey towards sustainable mobility. “If we could make streets safe for pedestrians and cyclists for 3-4 hours every weekend, why not at all times? This was how the idea of the Model Roads project was conceived!”

Coimbatore’s commitment to launch car-free Sundays and follow through with their plans on Model Roads led to its selection as a Smart City. The proposals for the Smart City Mission were created with inputs from the people. “We Coimbatoreans have big dreams as to how our city should be. And our dynamic Commissioner and Corporation support our dreams. They encourage all of us including NGOs to take part in the action towards sustainability”, said Mr. C.R.Swaminathan, President of the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC).

 

Lakes and Greenways-02

Under the Smart City mission, the primary demand from the people including organisations such as Siruthuli and RAAC, was the rejuvenation of the 8 lakes in the heart of Coimbatore. The city is blessed with a series of lakes, that have been neglected and polluted. The citizens wanted the lakes restored and a 30km eco-mobility corridor linking them . The Lake Eco-restoration project has been tendered out and the consultant for the same will be selected by the end of March, 2017.

A visit to the sites of the Model Roads initiative, as well as the Lake Restoration initiative proved fruitful as experts feel that Coimbatore is on the right track in its sustrans journey.

A visit to the sites of the Model Roads project, as well as the Lake Restoration initiative proved fruitful as experts feel that Coimbatore is on the right track in its sustrans journey.

In a city that is so willing to reduce its carbon footprint, there is much potential for a transition away from fossil fuel-driven personal motor vehicles, especially to low-emission electric vehicles. Mr.Leonardo Lacerda, the Environmental Programme Director of the Oak Foundation advocated this shift during the meeting, given that Coimbatore is home to the popular e-vehicle production company, Ampere.

While discussing other ways and means to reduce the city’s carbon footprint, members of Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore put forth the following points with the aim of shifting people away from private vehicles to public transport:

  • Implementing a modern IT based parking management system
  • Strengthening and improving the existing public transport services
  • Integration of public transport with with a well-connected rapid transit system

The discussion was peppered with many feasible suggestions and one of the bigger ideas that captured everyone’s attention was the need for a Transit-Oriented Master Plan for the city. Representing the urban planning community of Coimbatore, Ar. Arun from Arun & Associates stressed the need for planning to focus on creating more transit near people, and bringing people near transit.

“There are many mid-sized cities in Tamil Nadu”, said Ms. Shreya Gadepalli, Director – South Asia, ITDP. “Chennai, being a large metropolitan area, is generally seen as a higher standard for them to reach. On the other hand, Coimbatore owing to its similar size is inspiring these cities to work for SusTrans changes. ‘Coimbatore is doing it, we would also like to try’, is the mantra that is driving sustainable transformation in cities like Madurai. Kudos Coimbatore, for showing the right way forward!”

Click here for the exclusive with Mr. Clayton Lane, published in the Times of India on 20th March, 2017.