Beyond the Myth: Why Buses are a City’s Natural Ally

7th December 2018 by admin

Standing at a crucial intersection, bus transportation faces the possibility of being a footnote in Indian history. Lest we forget, buses were, and in most cases continue to be, the backbone of a city’s travel needs. But at the turn of the century, globalisation established its roots in Indian cities and with it arrived new technology, improved purchasing power, and far-reaching aspirations—fuelled by marketing gimmicks.

Soon enough, the idea of the first car parked itself deep into the psyche of the masses. Interestingly, the messaging was altered according to socio-economic backgrounds. From the first motorcycle to the first scooter (eventually rebranded as the ‘scooty’). Well, why should cars have all the fun!

Etched in our memories by means of rampant baits (adverts of all sizes and forms), automobiles were perpetuated as the vehicles for our ‘escape from Alcatraz’. Just for one tiny-little gargantuan problem! The light that flickered at the end of that tunnel was decimated by tonnes of reinforced steel and million gallons of cement. That is, the more infrastructure we built to support private motor vehicles the more congestion was created on the streets; resulting in ever-increasing pollution levels.

As per a report, published by the University of Chicago, automobiles contribute a quarter of the PM 2.5 released into the atmosphere. “Particulate pollution cuts global life expectancy short by nearly two years; and in India, it is an average of four years! In comparison, smoking cuts global life expectancy by 1.6 years,” states the report.

And in all of this, commute hours only managed to worsen. Hence, countries at large are adopting sustainable and ecological public transport measures such as buses. But in India, there still exists a certain disdain when it comes to using buses in the urban scenario.

In order to rid ourselves of this baseless confirmation bias, we need to understand what these myths are and where they stand when viewed with rationale.

The comfort of a private vehicle comes with a certain privilege and in time, anything outside of that zone is viewed with a myopic lens. A huge part of this delusion is that everyone travels by either car, two-wheelers, or now, cabs. The fact, though, is different from the distortion.

Less than a fourth of all trips are on personal motor vehicles and cabs, while over a quarter is made on public transport. And, city buses cater to most of the public transport trips in major Indian cities. Like in the case of Bengaluru and Delhi, where bus services record more than five million trips per day. This begs the question, where are the buses?!

In the case of Chennai, with a population touching close to 10 million, there are just about 4,000 operational buses in the city. According to national service level benchmarks, there should be 400 – 600 buses per million inhabitants in cities. Most Indian cities fall short of this number. Going by that standard, Chennai records a shortfall of close to 2,000 buses. Even so, the city’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) records an incredible 4.7 million daily ridership—resulting in overcrowding and poor level of service.

To cope up with the demand and maintain a decent level of service, cities need to be assisted either by state or national schemes. Though the JNNURM scheme drew sharp criticism, it helped bring about a massive influx of high-quality fleet—more than 13,000 buses were added to city bus systems across the country.

Indian cities aren’t the exception to the public transportation thumb rule. Cities across the world, both developed and developing, register higher bus ridership figures than any other public transport system. These include London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico City, São Paulo, etc.

Let’s begin by addressing the elephant in the room. Buses, though big, are not the reason behind congestion on roads. The credit goes to private motor vehicles, like cars and two-wheelers, which through their sheer numbers manage to clutter every possible infrastructure created to ease their passage.

Back in 1991, Munster, in Germany, put on display a three-panelled photograph. Titled ‘Waste of Space’, it depicted the space required to transport 72 people by either car, bus or bicycle. And as the adage goes: an image is worth a thousand words. To spell it out, cars occupy a lot more space and carry a lot lesser people. Whereas, a bus can carry a lot more people and occupy a lot less space on the road.

Here are some stats to bolster this argument: a bus, while thrice the size of a car it carries thirty times more passengers during the course of a day in a typical Indian city. While cars occupy most of our street space, they serve less than a fourth of all trips. They also sit idle for 95 per cent of the time. And just like an elephant cannot survive on peanuts, infrastructure (flyovers, free parking lots, road expansion, etc.,) to support private automobiles burns meteor-sized holes in public expenditure.

Now, cynics would argue that realistically buses get stuck for longer in traffic and comfort levels vary according to passenger density or crowding. Well, obviously! If you pack roads, of how-many-ever lanes, with a swarm of private motor vehicles no one would be able to commute efficiently. But what if buses have a lane of their own?

In the present scenario, a city spends around Rs 200-300 crore per km in building a four-lane flyover to increase capacity by 60%. Whereas, investing in a bus-rapid transit (BRT) at-grade would ensure road capacity to increase anywhere from 400-1,000 per cent and cost approximately Rs 20 crore per km—just one-tenth the cost of building a flyover. When designed at par with international standards, the BRT system not only transports more commuters but ensures faster transit and accessibility to folks from all walks—especially the differently-abled and children.

Hence if cities are looking for efficient modes of transport, a rapid transit system such as the BRT is the answer.

There is no doubt that rail and some metro (Delhi and Kolkata) systems are shining examples of high-quality and high-capacity urban public transit, but buses were the original beast of this burden. Even as the baton is being handed over, bus services continue to carry a significant chunk of the ridership.

In the 2015-16 period, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) recorded their highest yearly average in ridership—2.5 million commuters per day. Compare this to the city’s bus services, which recorded a massive 4.8 million ridership.

Most importantly, metro rail projects don’t come cheap. Chennai’s phase-I, which covers 45 km, pushed the city’s finances by about Rs 250 billion and the 108 km phase-II project is estimated to be a whopping Rs 850 billion—that is Rs 8 billion per kilometer!. The cost of the project is further borne by citizens, as the Chennai Metro is likely to be the costliest metro rail in the country. So the question arises, should a city spend Rs 8 billion on one kilometer of underground metro line and serve 10,000 passengers or build a 40 km high-quality bus rapid transit network which can serve upwards of a lakh passengers.

As sustainability becomes the need of the hour, bus-related transport systems are winning endorsements from cities and experts alike. According to the former Transportation Commissioner of New York City, Janette Sadik Khan, the model of roadway design—to move cars as fast as possible from point A to B—is outdated and needs to be updated. “Streets are the major capital asset for cities…They can be used to provide all sorts of mobility, like the Bus Rapid Transit system (BRTS). We can build high-capacity systems that can make it easier and more affordable and faster for people to move around,” said Khan in an interview to The Hindu.

So rather than neglecting this perennial lifeline, Indian cities need to take advantage of their already well-established bus systems. As Oscar Wilde put it, “Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.” In the same context, urban mobility isn’t complex and a simple and humble transport medium such as the bus could unravel the complexities of Indian transportation.

Written by Rohit James

Edited by Kashmira Medhora Dubash

Free parking is not a right, but a blight!

24th August 2018 by admin

In the 1970s when Joni Mitchell crooned “Big Yellow Taxi”, not many realised the clairvoyance and the forewarning that the song’s lyrics expressed. Though every bit of the lyric has its own essence and social messaging, the starting couplet is resounding. The verse—“They paved paradise, And put up a parking lot”—held a mirror up to society, and here we are four decades later, perplexed and baffled as to how we got here.

Automobiles are the scourge that drive up emission levels and other environmental issues, yet their numbers continue to rise unabashed. As per a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (Delhi), it took India 60 years (1951-2008) to cross the mark of 105 million registered vehicles. The same number of vehicles were added in a mere six years (2009 – 2015) thereafter!

But when you throw ill-conceived parking systems into this mix, it is like taking gasoline to a firefight. The backlash of this self-inflicted problem is found in every nook and corner of our cities, in all sorts of positions (angular, parallel, perpendicular) and scales (on-street, multi-level, automated).

In India, the conversation surrounding parking management is kindled every now and then, only to be impounded with plans of creating more parking spaces. Or even worse, buried six-foot deep with a parking lot as a symbolical headstone. Irony at its best.

So, why is it that dialogues on parking and its management generate public ire, whereas implausible measures—such as unchecked on-street free parking and multi-level parking—venerated. The answer lies in the psyche of vehicle owners and commuters in general, who lay fodder to a whole bunch of myths regarding parking management.

Now, what are these myths and how do the arguments hold; well, not as solid as the ground their vehicles are parked on.

Let’s deduce this argument with the adage, “Your liberty to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins”. A citizen has the liberty to own a vehicle, but it doesn’t entitle them to occupy a public space of their fancy. Furthermore, no text, context, and subtext of a right allows for the infringement of someone else’s right. Whereas, parking poses as an obstruction for someone to use that common public space from walking or cycling.

Clearly, parking is not a right or an entitlement, but a privilege which needs to be charged and heavily at that. A parking fee must be charged proportional to demand, factoring in criteria such as location, time of day, duration of parking, and category of vehicle (defined by size and type).

Take the case of Ranchi, where a pilot parking management project on the arterial MG Road stretch led to a 12-fold increase in parking revenue. Even the state of Jharkhand, spurred by the revenue spike at Ranchi’s pilot parking management project, invested efforts to regulate parking as a statewide policy. According to reports, Greater Chennai Corporation stands to gain Rs 55 crore per year in revenue from the pricing of about 12,000 ECS (equivalent car spaces) of parking in Chennai: a whopping 110 times increase in revenue from what it presently earns.

Cities can innovatively use parking revenue to encourage sustainable modes of transport. For example, Bicing—the public cycle-sharing program in Barcelona—is financed by its parking revenue. London’s Freedom Pass, which allows elderly (60+) and disabled residents to use public transport for free, is funded by the parking fees collected in many boroughs. You can find more about these cases and other best practices in ITDP’s publication, Europe’s Parking U-Turn: From Accommodation to Regulation.

As per Dalia Research, the average global commute time per workday is 1 hour 9 minutes, India’s commute estimate hovers around 1 hour 31 minutes. That figure helps us to the third spot in the global list, behind only Israel and the UAE. So does the solution of offering more parking space offer a concession on congestion, the answer is and has always been in the negative.

An analogy often used while talking about urban commute is “Travel time was so much lesser when there were lesser vehicle!”. Hence, parking is to private vehicles, what flame is to moths. More parking only begets more private vehicles to hit the road.

An excessive supply of parking will only encourage people to use personal motor vehicles—even when good public transport is available. Cities, therefore, need to limit total parking supply, including off-street and on-street parking. Based on the capacity of the road network, cities must set caps on the total quantum of parking available in each zone.

Most cities invest in developing multi-level car parks to resolve parking woes. But examples, from across the world and India, clearly indicate that it is a myopic attempt. Over time such infrastructures only turn into ‘big white elephants’.

Take the example of Bengaluru’s 11 multi-storeyed parking complexes—Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Company (BMTC) owns nine and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) owns two. According to a Bangalore Mirror report, these “ghost storey” parking lots barely have 20-30% occupancy, reason being parking on roads or pavements is easier, since it is free and the safer.

“Multi-level car parking doesn’t solve parking woes, better on-street management does. Multi-level parking structures remain empty while people continue to park on the streets as long as it remains free and unenforced,” said Shreya Gadepalli, ITDP India Programme Lead. Thus, cities must manage and enforce on-street parking effectively before building any off-street parking facilities, public, or private.

In 2009, Janette Sadik-Khan, the then transportation commissioner of New York City, envisioned Times Square to be a car-free zone. That is, the hub would be less of a conduit for vehicles and an urban space where people could freely walk, sightsee, dine, and take in the magnanimity that is New York. Though there were initial reservations, the results were quite remarkable and by 2010 the changes were made permanent. Citylab reported that “business for merchants in the area was booming, and travel times for cars actually went down”.

There are plenty of such examples be it Hong Kong—where demand for commercial establishments rose post pedestrianisation, Copenhagen—a pilot pedestrian project from 1962 has since reclaimed 100,000 sq.m of motorised transit. Here in India, the Mall Road in Shimla, Temple Street in Madurai, and Heritage Street in Amritsar are examples of how reinventing urban design to focus on pedestrianisation does not affect commercial establishment as feared.

People over parking: regulations allows better streets, better cities, better lives

In conclusion, the need of the hour is to regulate parking, not to take it off the table. Policies which focus on parking management not only help in easing congestion, emissions, and travel time, but also are a feasible revenue generation model for a city. A robust management system clearly defines parking zones, pegs user fee to demand, and uses an IT-based mechanism for information, payment, and enforcement—discussed at length in ITDP’s Parking Basics.

The conversation revolving around parking management has been catching up, with ITDP India Programme offering plausible solutions to cities. Leading the conversation is Pune, which is on the verge of implementing a parking management policy—a demand-based parking system that smoothens traffic movement.

Multiple studies allude that personal cars and two-wheelers occupy most of our street space, yet serve less than a fourth of all trips. They also sit idle for 95 per cent of the time—consuming over a third of street space that could be used more effectively as footpaths, cycle tracks, and bus rapid transit (BRT). The discourse over urban mobility shouldn’t revolve around parking, rather the onus must be on transit-oriented development. Wherein, last-mile connectivity and rapid system of transit ensure movement of people and not just vehicles. As cities evolve, there is an urgent need to step away from an oblivious “man proposes and parking disposes” mentality.

More resources from ITDP on parking management and reforms:

Parking Basics

Park it right

InFocus: Revolutionary Parking Reforms

Parking: Searching for the good life

Sizing Up Parking Space

U.S. Parking Policies: An Overview of Management Strategies

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

9th August 2018 by admin

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.

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

9th July 2018 by admin

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.

Our Cities Ourselves

1st June 2018 by admin

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

28th May 2018 by admin

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!

Tamil Nadu to plan a clean, green and healthy way of moving its people: 10 cities take the lead

25th May 2018 by admin

Tamil Nadu is at the cusp of turning into the most urbanised State in India. With over 48 percent of its population living in urban areas, the cities of Tamil Nadu recognise the need to provide a clean, green, and healthy way of moving it’s citizens—walking and cycling.

To set the wheel in motion, ITDP India programme in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Commissionerate of Municipal Administration (CMA) and GIZ Smart-SUT organised a day long workshop on ‘Designing streets for walking and cycling’.

The dearth of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure undermines our basic civil right. But, undeniably people of Tamil Nadu rely heavily on commute by foot; more than a third of all trips are made on foot!

Cities of Tamil Nadu now have a second chance at reclaiming space for its primary users—pedestrians and cyclists. The workshop paved way for the Transforming Tamil Nadu: Creating walking and cycling-friendly cities programme that aims to transform urban cores to liveable, safe cities.

The Programme brings together 10 Tamil Nadu cities — Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur, Vellore, Tiruppur, Tirunelveli, Tiruchirappalli, Thoothukudi and Erode — selected under the National Smart Cities Mission. These cities have been allocated approximately 2500 crores towards the transformation of 500 km of streets, in total.

The 10 cities will be assisted by ITDP India programme, over a nine month period, to identify, plan, and implement city-wide walking and cycling networks. Of these 10 cities, three will be identified and assisted in creating detailed network plans by ITDP India programmed in collaboration with GIZ Smart-SUT. These network plans aim to boost economy, promote healthy living, and reduce the environmental impacts of our transport choices. In a nation where cars are a status symbol, it is commendable for these cities to envision an increase in the use of cycles and the ease of walking.

The Programme, that is now commissioned by the CMA is attributed to the efforts of sensitising and inspiring city officials over the last two years. Coimbatore, with support from ITDP India programme, kick-started the sustrans crusade by evangelising the Greenways and Lake Restoration Project, which includes a 30 km network of exclusive walking and cycling infrastructure connecting eight water bodies across the city. The city’s vision has had a bandwagon effect across the State.

The 10 cities have also been inspired by the seamless design and execution of Pune’s Complete Streets. ITDP India programme, with the support of the State Government, organised study tours for over 50 Commissioners, Engineers, and Project Management Consultants to explore Pune’s work on-ground that has set world-class street design standards in India.

TN delegates assessing the public bicycle sharing system on a site visit to Pune

As cities were already sensitised to embrace the walking and cycling paradigm shift, the participants—Commissioners, Engineers, and Project Management Consultants—were extremely receptive of catalysing change.

During the workshop, presentations by Shreya Gadepalli, South Asia Programme Lead (ITDP), and Aswathy Dilip, Senior Programme Manager (ITDP India programme) struck a chord among participants to ensure that our cities put people before cars. In effect, all citizens should be able to walk and cycle safely, and easily access jobs and services via quality public transit.

Shreya Gadepalli, South Asia Programme Lead (ITDP), presenting on sustainable urban transport

Jan Rickmeyer, Transport Policy Advisor for GIZ Eschborn, presented case studies from Leipzig to demonstrate how cities can transform into cycling utopias. Similarly, Juergen Baumann of C40 Cities Finance Facility, presented Bogota’s story of designing 25 km of cycle highway through low, middle, and high income neighbourhoods to ensure socially inclusivity.

At the workshop, peer-to-peer learning, through group exercises, was organised by ITDP India programme and GIZ to ensure that cities were equipped with the right skill-set to translate their learnings into implementation projects. Mapping existing transport opportunities and constraints of the city has helped determine the selection of streets that will be redesigned and transformed into walking and cycling networks.

Groups mapping existing transport constraints to identify potential walking and cycling networks

Transformation through design is the underlining key to success. In this regard, the Commissioner of Municipal Administration requested cities to adopt the model Request for Proposal (RFP): Appointment of a Technical Consultant for Planning, Re-designing and Monitoring of Smart Roads Development, prepared with the support from ITDP India programme, to appoint qualified designers to execute these network plans.

The Transforming Tamil Nadu: Creating walking and cycling-friendly cities programme that is now set in motion owing to the success of this workshop, will see through 10 smart cities wherein walking and cycling will form the backbone of their transport system. ITDP South India team will collaborate with these cities to make their dream a reality.

Walking is a basic human instinct, and cycling is a healthy and sustainable choice. They are unparalleled forms of transport. With clear vision and direction from the State, the cities of Tamil Nadu are on a resolute path to embrace a future where cities are designed to be enjoyed on foot or by pedal.

Watch this space as we embark on a journey to assist 10 cities of Tamil Nadu transform into people-oriented cities.

ITDP India – Our Journey from a Dream to Reality

11th May 2018 by admin

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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!

Pune inspires Tamil Nadu cities to reclaim streets for people

6th April 2018 by admin

“Smart cities are equivalent to glamorous buildings where policies and guidelines form a strong foundation”, Mr. Kunal Kumar, IAS, Commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation. Over the years, our streets have been reduced to battlefields as people try to grapple with traffic congestion, lack of footpaths, and air pollution. One city that has taken bold, applaudable measures to rectify this chaos is Pune. Pune has been and continues to be an inspiration for many Indian cities that strive to reclaim streets for its people.

To explore Pune’s accomplishments, ITDP organised and facilitated a study tour for Tamil Nadu city officials – Corporation Commissioners of Erode, Madurai, Salem, Tiruppur, and Vellore, accompanied by engineers from the office of the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration. The study tour was conducted in collaboration with Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. (also known as PSCDCL) and Pune Municipal Corporation, in February. The one-day programme aimed to sensitise participants on the best practises of designing complete streets – streets with quality footpaths, segregated cycle tracks, safe pedestrian crossing and managed parking.

Delegates interacting with PSCDCL team at the Smart City Operations Centre

The delegates visited the Smart City Operations Centre that seamlessly integrates management and monitoring of the smart city operations. To the extent, “this system also oversees the energy consumed by streetlights in the city and alerts us when any light stops working”, explained Mr. Manojit Bose,Chief Knowledge Officer, PSCDCL. The team from Tamil Nadu marvelled at the Centre’s resourcefulness at data collection and efficiency in maintaining the city’s public infrastructure.

This was followed by a roundtable discussion, facilitated by Mr Kunal Kumar, Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation. Mr Kumar highlighted three guiding principles for a smart city: adopt policies that guide it’s existing and future transportation requirements, leverage multiple sources of funding, and build internal capacity. Pune has launched a two-year programme with Singapore Land Transport Authority to enable 120 engineers from five departments in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad to acquire the knowledge and skills required for the projects.

Mr. Kunal Kumar interacts with the Tamil Nadu team and shares his recommendations for the success of the smart city projects.

The discussion was followed by a site visit to Aundh-DP road to observe the seamless execution of Pune’s complete streets. Mr. Vikas Thakar, Pavetech Consultants, gave an insight into the implementation of high quality streets and detailed the design process of DP road. The delegates took the opportunity to experience Pune’s public bicycle sharing (PBS) system first-hand by cycling along the dedicated cycle tracks on DP Road. Pune’s dockless PBS system was proposed under the city’s Bicycle Plan which piloted 275 bicycles of the proposed total of 13,100 docked bicycles. The system received a great response from the delegates.

Tamil Nadu delegates testing Pune’s dockless PBS system

The delegates also visited a transformed public amenity space at Baner. Pune’s vision of creating recreational spaces has been revolutionised. Gone are the days when parks were the only public open spaces in the city. Underutilised and derelict parcels of land have been acquired by the Corporation and developed into theme-based amenity spaces. The two pilot projects in Baner are perfect examples of how cities can explore and catalyse the versatility of urban spaces.

Amenity space developed on the theme of ‘Art and Culture’ in Baner

Although smart cities are often synonymous with information and communication technologies, a city has to invest in human and social capital for improving the quality of life and achieving sustainable economic development. That is when it can truly become a smart city. And, after the exposure visit to Pune, it can be safely said that this is what cities in Tamil Nadu are aspiring for!

A year of radical planning, 2017 passes by…

30th December 2017 by admin

“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!