ITDP India

Promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide

ITDP India – Our Journey from a Dream to Reality

team ITDP

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It was back in 1998 that ITDP began its engagements in India, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s words, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” What started as one woman’s journey to change the dystopian path our cities were drifting towards has transformed into a formidable force of young, passionate visionaries who strive to bring back life in a place we call home. Today, ITDP celebrates two decades of action on the ground, catalysing tangible transformation at scale in over a third of urban India.

Transportation is the focus of many pressing issues facing the world today—decisions about whether to build highways or bus corridors have a great impact on our health and our planet. For this reason, ITDP has worked with over 18 Indian cities to reduce the human impact of transport choices: ensuring cities put people before cars, all citizens can walk and cycle safety, and jobs and services are a bus ride away. Through the dedicated efforts of our team and a strategic approach towards sustainable transport, ITDP India programme has impacted the lives of millions for the past 20 years.

ITDP in India

The journey in India began in Agra. The vision to develop a modern cycle rickshaw to counter the growing threats of motor vehicular pollution, gave way to the India Cycle Rickshaw Improvement Project. What started off as five prototypes has become sustainably embedded as the standard design in cities across North India. Today, around half a million of these modern cycle rickshaws serve  4-5 million zero-carbon trips daily and offer dignified livelihood to over a million people, transforming the lives of their families as well.

Cycle rickshaws

ITDP realised the need to transform the quality and availability of public transport in Indian cities. Since 2003, the India Programme evangelised the idea of the Bus Rapid Transit (popularly known as BRT) to transform mediocre bus services into high-quality mass transit.

Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, welcomed ITDP to reimagine bus transit in 2005. Our partnership with Environment Planning Collaborative, and thereafter with CEPT University and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation resulted in the launch of Janmarg (in 2009)—India’s first high quality BRT system that expands to a network of 87 km. Janmarg has inspired many cities in India, and with guidance from ITDP, five cities have created 200 km of high-quality BRT to date.

janmarg

In 2009, the India Programme revolutionised the way people perceived streets in India. Safe, child-friendly streets are not just a mirage of the past, but can be a beautiful reality even today. Ahmedabad was the first city in India to host Car-Free Sundays in collaboration with ITDP, Riverside School and other partners.  The initiative allowed citizens to experience the freedom of walking and cycling on safer car-free streets.  The success enabled expansion to Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to raise awareness and transform their streets into places we all dream of everyday.

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.

 

chennai complete streets

Since 2013, the India Programme has worked with the smaller cities of Tamil Nadu – Coimbatore, Trichy, Tirupur, Salem, and Madurai.  In Coimbatore, the Namma Kovai Namakke (Our Coimbatore Ourselves) campaign, initiated by ITDP, sparked citizen demand for better pedestrian facilities. Coimbatore was the first city in Tamil Nadu to host Car-Free Sundays, that inspired Chennai and Madurai to do the same. The city also adopted The Coimbatore Street Design and Management Policy that aims to increase walking, cycling and public transport use. In light of Coimbatore’s vision to improve people-mobility, the city has planned a 30 km-network of walking and cycling paths to connect the city’s major lakes, in line with the guiding Policy.  

The India programme began its engagements in Maharashtra in 2009, first with the Municipal Corporations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, and thereafter in Nashik and Aurangabad. Today, Pune is the epitome of a smart Indian city. Pune launched 40 kms of the Rainbow BRT in 2015, with an additional 45 km in the pipeline. The city adopted the Urban Street Design Guidelines and plans to redesign 100 km of streets based on the world-class standards set by the transformation of  JM Road and DP Road pilot project.

While Pune has taken the first steps towards developing a people-centric city, the next challenge is to address the encroachment onto footpaths by parked vehicles. As a result, Pune adopted the Public Parking Policy to regulate parking, in 2018. The Policy aims to manage on-street parking through an efficient paid parking system but exempts bicycle parking from any charges. Pune realises that encouraging cycling reduces CO2, improves commuters’ health and increases retail visibility. As a result, the city plans to implement a dockless Public Bicycle Sharing system of 13,100 cycle, under the city’s Bicycle Plan.  Yes, the city has worked wonders. Pune, Chennai, and Coimbatore – all cities ITDP assisted, were selected in the first round of the national government’s Smart City Mission.  

Pune complete streets

In 2013, the India programme also expanded to Ranchi, the capital of the state of Jharkhand. Local conditions were unfavourable to support sustainable transport; thus, ITDP initiated collaboration with local civil society groups, educational institutions and trade associations that formed the Ranchi Mobility Partnership. Ranchi’s Mobility for All action plan prepared by ITDP, with input from the partners, provided a detailed roadmap of transport solutions for local conditions.

The action plan inspired the city to take responsibility of overseeing operations of 100 new buses, and an additional 300 buses in the due course—an applaudable move for a city that had fewer than 30 buses. The plan also identified a cycle network to improve access to public transport; as a result, the city is in the midst of constructing the state’s first Bicycle Sharing system comprising of 1200 cycles.

Onward and upward, Ranchi’s Parking Policy has inspired other cities in the state, like Jamshedpur, to manage on-street parking. The State too realised the chaos caused by unregulated parking and thereafter adopted the  Jharkhand Parking Regulations—first in India. Jharkhand is also the first state to endorse the Transit Oriented Development Policy that was prepared in consultation with ITDP India.

On account of leveraging the sustainable transport agenda at the national level, the India expanded to the country’s capital, Delhi, in 2016. This gave rise to the policy brief on Women and Transport in collaboration with Safetipin and UN Women. Women represent the largest share of public transport users, yet they face many barriers that limit their mobility such as safety, comfort, convenience and affordability. Empowering women in transport enables them to participate in workforce, thereby creating a societal shift to transform the entire world economy.

The India Programme’s capacity development work, through training workshops and study tours, has been imperative to the success of its projects and policy. The India Programme has trained over 1000 government officials and other stakeholders. Over the years, our knowledge products have not only been used for best practise references, but also endorsed by the government – for example, the National Guidelines for Public Bicycle-sharing for the Ministry of Urban Development, and Street Design and BRT Guidelines for the Indian Roads Congress (IRC).

capacity development

Since 1998, ITDPs’ agenda of improving the quality of life of citizens through equitable and sustainable transport has only magnified in momentum over time. Times have evolved, but our dream remains the same. Take a moment and imagine a 2050: will we design a future where we continue to get trapped in endless traffic while pollution destroys the city, and infrastructure fails to deliver? Or, will we live in ‘smart cities’ where people can zip around town, connected with walking and cycling boulevards and world-class rapid transit. The choice is yours; we chose the latter.

P.S. Dear Mahatma Gandhiji, we are being the change we wish to see in the world today. And, we have been doing it successfully for the past 20 years in India!  

Creating Safer Cities: ITDP’s partnership with Janki Devi Memorial College

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Written by Sonal Shah

“ITDP-JDMC partnership has been extremely rewarding in fortifying the initiative towards making Delhi safe for women. The audits at the bus terminals conducted under the guidance of the former have contributed immensely to the understanding of safety issues at the grass root level in cities.”- Ruby Bhardwaj, a member of faculty at Janki Devi Memorial College (JDMC)

Transport – be it streets, buses, metro-rail, rickshaws – is not only infrastructure that we use for daily movement, but also constitutes our image of the city and how accessible or inaccessible it is – depending on our social identity.

To explore the intersections of Gender and Transport, in October 2017, ITDP co-taught a course on ‘Safe and Inclusive Cities’ at the Janki Devi Memorial College (or JDMC). Under the ‘Urban Planning and Infrastructure’ module, ITDP highlighted the dimensions of gendered travel such as trip chaining,  forced mobility, forced immobility, and mobility of care. Trip-chaining and the mobility of care look at women’s travel patterns, as they make multiple stops on their way to a destination for caretaking trips (such as accompanying a dependant to school, clinics, shopping for the household etc). Forced immobility is a consequence of violence and insecurity in transport, which constrains their movement. Introducing these concepts to enabled the young women of JDMC college to evaluate their daily paths through the lens of walkability, safety and comfort.

As a part of the course,  the students walked as a group and mapped the street from JDMC to Karolbagh Metro Station, the residential streets in the vicinity and Gangaram Hospital Road. They highlighted how encroached, discontinuous and inadequate footpaths forced them to walk on the carriageway, how high boundary walls along deserted stretches became places where men urinated, how ‘dark spots’ due to poor street lighting and inactive stretches increased unsafe walking conditions, how drinking tea at a vendor was uncomfortable because they were “looked” at by male bystanders or how they altered their walking path to take a longer route or avoid an unsafe stretch.   

ITDP staff presenting the intersections of Gender and TransportITDP staff presenting the intersections of Gender and Transport


 ITDP staff discussing the mapping exercise and proposals on how streets could be made safer with JDMC studentsITDP staff discussing the mapping exercise and proposals on how streets could be made safer with JDMC students

JDMC students mapping the streets around their college.JDMC students mapping the streets around their college.

This short exercise has been followed by a second workshop in March 2018, where the same students are now conducting walkability assessments and safety audits using the Safetipin application within 500m around bus terminals in Delhi. This will culminate in a report rating the quality of walking infrastructure and the built environment and suggest concrete recommendations for creating gender responsive streets. Sonali Vyas from Safetipin conducted a training session on how to use the application, followed by pilot test audits.

Our preliminary findings reveal that road safety, quality of walking infrastructure, street lighting, gender diversity are consistently emerging as issues in accessing the bus terminals across Delhi. While the comprehensive findings will be shared in April, this exercise reflects ITDP’s endeavour to engage students (in this case, young sociology female students) in not only understanding gendered transport theoretically, but becoming aware of how accessibility can be enabled or hindered and the critical role that infrastructure plays in it.

ITDP staff explaining how to conduct a safety audit on the fieldRight: ITDP staff explaining how to conduct a safety audit on the field.

We would like to acknowledge the students and faculty of Janki Devi Memorial College and Safetipin in this joint initiative.

 

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!

InFocus: Building climate resilience through transport

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ITDP brings you news from around the world about sustainable transport and urban development. The past year was interesting, specially in India. Chennai’s NMT transformation, to Delhi’s odd-even car-restriction scheme, to Burdwan’s car-free days, change was in the air!

The Conference of Parties summit – popularly called COP21- held in Paris last December, saw the nations committing to maintain an increase in the world’s temperature at less than 1.5 degrees Celsius. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, ‘If we don’t hang together, assuredly, we shall hang separately”.

Transport accounts for a staggering 23 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions. There is NO WAY we can redress the situation without changing the way we travel.  A large-scale, planned movement towards non-motorised, and public, transportation seems the only practicable way out. Let us see what Indian cities have been trying out, lately :

[Read more…]

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Delhi plans for smart growth around transit

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Between 1991 and 2011, the population of Delhi and its adjoining suburbs more than doubled, from approximately 10 million to 22 million. Despite the presence of mass rapid transport networks in the city, the number of private motor vehicle trips nearly doubled between 2001 and 2008, not only increasing congestion, but also earning it the dubious distinction of being the “world’s most polluted city.”

Recognising the need for a major transformation in the way the city manages urban growth, planners embarked on an overhaul of the city’s planning regulations. City officials now recognise that the city needs to begin integrating land use and transport planning, and discouraging the use of   private vehicles. Toward this end, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) approved a new transit-oriented development policy in early 2015.

Promoting intense development around transit stations

At the core of the policy is a provision to encourage higher densities within 500 m, or a 10 minute walk, of rapid transit stations. These areas are called ‘‘Influence Zones” in the Delhi Master Plan, 2021.The policy aims to reduce trip lengths by enabling a greater portion of the population to live in these influence zones. Higher floor-area ratios (FAR)—up to 400 per cent of the plot area—are now allowed for redevelopment projects larger than 1 ha. The policy also mandates mixed use in developments in Influence Zones, with a minimum of 30 per cent of floor space reserved for residential uses, 10 per cent for commercial uses and 10 per cent for community purposes. This mixed-use approach is expected to eliminate private vehicle use for daily errands, while creating a higher concentration of jobs and residences within easy reach of rapid transit.

Creating safer public spaces through urban design

TOD is not just about higher density. Good urban design can help Delhi transition from being a “rape-city” to a “safe-city” by creating a better public-private interface that makes for more eyes on the street. By eliminating setbacks along main building facades and mandating transparent fences where setbacks are allowed, the policy ensures that there is an active interface between activities inside the buildings and on the street.

Building inclusive streets for transit access

Besides addressing the design of the private realm, the policy also aims to improve the public realm through people-centric street design guidelines. Pedestrians would have wide footpaths and at least 5 crossing opportunities for each kilometre of street length. Twenty-one per cent of Delhi’s land area is already used for roads. With these street design guidelines, Delhi’s TOD policy looks at ways to better manage existing road network to balance the needs of all users.

Microsoft PowerPoint - Vision of TOD_22-03-12

(Left) View of an existing street in Delhi; (Right) Proposed street design improvements include better walking and cycling facilities and the creation of paid parking areas.

Restricting parking

While incentivising development around transit, the policy also establishes  disincentives for the use of private motor vehicles. Due to the presence of unrestricted, cheap on- and off-street parking in Delhi has meant that car users have remained reluctant to switch to public transport. To address this, the policy restricts parking supply by allowing a maximum of 1.33 equivalent car spaces (ECS) for every 100 sq m of built space in TOD areas—far lower than parking permitted in other areas poorly served by public transport. Only a fraction of this parking is to be used for cars. Provision of cycle parking is mandatory in all developments. Additional parking can be built only in the form of paid, publicly accessible, shared parking.

Using pilot projects to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed reforms

Many city planners were initially sceptical of a TOD approach in Delhi’s context. They raised questions on the availability of physical infrastructure—including water, electricity, sewage, and solid waste management—to support higher densities. To address these concerns, DDA worked with planners, urban designers, and infrastructure experts to test TOD concepts in a pilot project at Kadkadooma. Their analysis proved that high population density can be achieved along with ecological, social, and economic viability. It showed that developments can easily be designed for mixed income groups, with various compatible uses and with decentralised infrastructure for water, solid waste, and electricity. DDA has adopted a public-private participation (PPP) approach to speed up project implementation and support needed infrastructure investments.

30 Ha Site at Kadkaduma Metro Station.

Finer street grid proposed (right) in the pilot project at Kadkadooma helps improve connectivity to the station from surrounding neighbourhoods as compared to the earlier configuration (left).

By adopting a new planning approach to meet the demands of the nation’s capital, Delhi’s transit-oriented development policy can go a long way in furthering sustainable development in the country.

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InFocus: Innovative solutions to prioritise cycling

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ITDP brings you a monthly digest of sustainable transport and urban development news from around the world. From Delhi’s policy aimed at improving cycling infrastructure to London’s strategy to prioritise cyclists at intersections,  this month’s InFocus looks at the different components that contribute to creating cyclist-friendly cities.

“Today, even for 1-2 km we are forced to use motorbikes or cars… Therefore, promotion of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure is vital to reduce pollution as well as congestion.”

– LG Najeeb Jung, Delhi

Delhi adopts cycling policy to provide last-mile connectivity

In a bid to decongest the city and improve access to public transport, Delhi has adopted a cycling policy that will enable implementation of 100 km of shaded cycle tracks and pedestrian walkways. It also envisions the creation of a cycle sharing system with 2,500 cycles and 180 cycle stations spread over a 30 sq km of area of Dwarka. Times of India reports.

New York employs smart street design to build cycle lanes and reduce traffic delays

Adding cycling infrastructure doesn’t mean that traffic has to come to a stand still. To illustrate this, Citylab reports on how smart street design interventions like reduced lane widths, buffer areas, and dedicated bus lanes not only make streets safer, but also improve speeds.

London tests out new signal systems that prioritise cyclists

To reduce delays for cyclists, Transport for London has developed a new cyclist detection system that uses radar and thermal cameras. Traffic lights will be adjusted to enable cyclists to pass through junctions faster. BBCLondon reports.

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InFocus: Building transit-oriented cities

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ITDP brings you a monthly digest of sustainable transport and urban development news from around the world. From Mumbai’s new transit-oriented development plan to urban design policies adopted in Delhi, this month’s InFocus looks at contemporary planning approaches adopted by cities to tackle congestion through better public transport-land use integration while improving quality of life for their citizens.

As India urbanises, cities have a choice: to allow, even facilitate, low density urban sprawl with mono-functional gated complexes, resulting in long commutes, dependence on private vehicles and rising congestion; or to actively plan for future residential, commercial, and other development within the city so that most citizens live, work and play within walking distance of high-quality rapid transit—in vibrant, lively places designed for people of all ages and income groups.

The latter approach—often called transit-oriented development—involves facilitating higher intensity mixed-use development along mass rapid transit corridors, encouraging affordable housing, creating a fine grid of streets that prioritise walking and cycling, and adopting building design and parking regulations that support street life and transit use. Here is a look at efforts being made by select Indian cities towards achieving this.

Mumbai allows higher FSI in areas served by transit

Eliminating low density, outward expansion, the city’s proposed Development Plan instead calls for higher FSI up to 8 along rapid transit corridors and commercial districts, while restricting FSI to 2 or less in areas without transit access. Indian Express presents the details.

Ahmedabad uses Local Area Plans to manage densification

The city’s Development Plan 2021 allowed higher densities for developments along transit corridors, with Central Business District having an FSI of 5.4. To manage high densities in these areas, the city has now completed preparation of a Local Area Plan for the CBD that envisions better streets, an improved public realm and infrastructure upgrades. In an interview with Livemint, Bimal Patel, President, CEPT University, elaborates on the salient features of such an approach.

Delhi set to redevelop transit hubs into safe, mixed use areas for all

Recognising the need to transform station areas into vibrant districts, Delhi Development Authority is set to modify its Development Plan to allow higher densities, mandate mixed use, and eliminate setbacks and compound walls for developments near public transport hubs. Indian Express reports.

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