ITDP India

Promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide

Maharashtra Urban Mobility Policy

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

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

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

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

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

How the policy came about

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

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

Consultation with Pune Municipal Corporation

Consultation with Nashik Municipal Corporation

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

What it offers

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

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

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

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

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

#PressforProgress: Cities must measure sexual harassment in streets and public transport

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Cover Image by Adam Cohn
Written by Sonal Shah

Over the last decade, there has been acknowledgement in mainstream media on the sexual harassment faced by women and girls in urban public transport and on streets around the globe. The fear of crime is widely recognised as a barrier to public transport use. Yet, our mobility plans continue to remain gender blind, as they do not measure the level and extent of harassment faced by women and girls. The normalization of harassment puts the onus of safety on women and girls, thereby restricting their behaviour and mobility. The role of transport planning in alleviating or exacerbating sexual harassment and violence has not yet percolated within mainstream discourse and in the minds of policy and decision makers. This is a lost opportunity as the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that US$28 trillion would be added to the global economy by 2025, if women were to play an identical role to men in markets.

While mainstream media has focused on gruesome incidents such as rape, violence against women and girls also includes groping, molestation, staring, stalking, stealing, cat calls and acid attacks. In Delhi, a 2010 study with over 5000 men and women showed that over 95% of the women had experienced harassment in the past year and public transport, buses and streets were identified as the most vulnerable spaces. While women of all ages faced some form of violence or sexual harassment, school and college girl students in the 15-19 age-group were the most vulnerable. In Mumbai too, 95% of the women respondents reported sexual harassment, 46% reported facing harassment inside buses and 23% while waiting at bus stops.

Sexual harassment is prevalent and underreported, both in developed and developing countries. In New York City, it is estimated that 96 percent of sexual harassment and 86 percent of sexual assaults in the subway system are unreported. Similarly, in Baku, Azerbaijan, while 80 per cent of 200 women surveyed had faced sexual harassment in the metro, none of them reported it to the appropriate authority. In Brazil, it is acknowledged that more than half a million women suffer some sort of sexual violence, every year.

The nature and form of harassment is context specific. According to a research by the Women Empowerment Link, the three most prevalent forms of violence against women and girls in Kenya who use public transport are: use of derogatory language by the matatus crews, coercion of passengers to board public service vehicles against their wish and unwelcome touching of female passengers. Other common forms include contemptuous treatment of women, stealing from and stripping of women passengers.

Creating safer streets and public transport systems will require coordinated actions in infrastructure, service improvements and behaviour change arising from progressive legislation, law enforcement and social norms. While the prevalence of sexual harassment in streets and public transport is known, this data has predominantly been collected by civil society organizations. Cities need to collect gender disaggregated data and measure sexual harassment on their streets and in four legs of the public transport journey (Figure 1) to develop clear actions. These can range from reserved seats, permitting women, girls and the elderly to board or alight from buses in between stops in the night, providing real time information on the arrival of public transport vehicles amongst others. The gender disaggregated quantitative data from travel surveys must be complemented with focus group discussions to understand men and women’s perception and experience of the public transport journey across socio-economic groups.

Figure 1: Four legs of a public transport journey

Gender safety audits must be mainstreamed in the assessment of transport infrastructure. Safety audits evaluate the physical and social aspects in creating safer streets. For example, Safetipin, a phone application scores streets and neighbourhoods on 8 parameters: lighting, openness, visibility, presence of people, security personnel, condition of walking paths, availability of public transport and gender diversity. The ninth parameter allows users to rate how they feel – from comfortable to being frightened. With women and girls who do not have access to smart phones, safety audits can be conducted with them by walking through their neighbourhoods to identify and evaluate spaces along the above parameters. The safety scores provide valuable information to improve the quality of walking infrastructure and crossings, continuous and consistent street lighting, access to facilities such as public toilets, increasing “eyes on the street” (through police personnel, patrolling vans, men or women street vendors) and designing streets that encourage use by diverse groups.

 

Image 1: Jungli Maharaj Road, Pune (India)

Transport service providers, bystanders and police personnel must be interviewed to understand their awareness of the frequency and causes for sexual harassment and their role in preventing or addressing it. Behaviour change is a long process involving progressive legislation, law enforcement and change in social norms. However, cities can create standard operating procedures along with gender sensitization workshops to train the police and transport workers / operators to prevent and address sexual harassment. Cities can create campaigns to communicate a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment, encourage women and girls to report incidents of sexual harassment and bystanders to intervene

Women need to be at the centre of the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of transport policies and projects as partners, professionals and as decision-makers.

Creating safer streets and public transport systems is not a one-time activity involving installation of CCTV cameras, panic buttons and GPS devices. It will require continuous and coordinated actions by multiple stakeholders – transport and urban development departments, police, commuters / bystanders and women’s groups. But cities must measure the contours of sexual harassment as part of their mobility plans, along with other dimensions of gendered travel – trip chaining, mobility of care, affordability, accessibility, comfort, convenience, forced mobility and immobility. #Pressingforprogress involves making women and girls visible as active users of streets and public transport.

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!

#WomenOnTheMove: Women and Transport in Indian Cities

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“Ultimately, transportation is the fulcrum that allows women to participate in the workforce; a societal shift to transform the entire world economy.” – Sonal Shah, Senior Manager, ITDP India Programme 

Centred around this idea, ITDP and Safetipin have released a policy brief on Women and Transport in Indian Cities. The draft was released on 13 June 2017 at a roundtable discussion on Gender and Transit, organized by ITDP, Safetipin and UN Women with participation from 30 women’s groups, international organizations, professionals and academic institutions.[1]

A roundtable discussion on Gender and Transit was organized by ITDP, Safetipin and UN Women with participation from 30 women’s groups, international organizations, professionals and academic institutions

The coming decade will be a defining moment for India as its urban areas are estimated to constitute around 40 per cent or 600 million of its total population by 2030. According to the High Powered Executive Committee (HPEC), around INR 23 lakh crores is required over 2015–2030 for India’s urban transport infrastructure. The national government has initiated missions and schemes to invest in urban transport and infrastructure; and created indicators and service level benchmarks to establish a city’s baseline and goal for improvement. The recently announced Green Urban Mobility Scheme (GUMS) expects to invest around INR 70,000 crores over 2018–2023 on sustainable transport.

“The defining characteristic of violence against women is its normalization and ordinary and continuous nature.” – Kalpana Viswanath, Co-founder & CEO, Safetipin

While there is momentum by different levels of government in addressing women’s safety in public transport, urban transport investments are largely gender blind with a limited understanding of the interrelationships between gender and transport. Sustainable urban development will remain elusive without integrating women and girls in urban transport.

Women and girls are close to 50 per cent of our urban population. They comprise only 19 per cent of “other workers”, 84 per cent of their trips are by public, intermediate public and non-motorized modes of transport (Census 2011)[2]. While 73 per cent of trips by “other workers” in urban areas are by sustainable modes of transport, women and girls’ share is only 14 per cent. Ultimately transportation will help women access economic and social opportunities. In the next few years, cities will need to make a concerted effort to improve women and girls’ experience of sustainable modes of transport to achieve a target of 40 per cent of all trips. The policy brief fills this gap by providing a framework to integrate technical and social, quantitative and qualitative approaches for enabling this transition.

In Section 1, the brief underscores the need for a policy brief focusing on women and transport in Indian cities. Section 2 describes the scope of the brief. The gendered dimensions of urban transport are covered in Section 3, with a focus on trip chaining and purpose, modal shares, trip distances, time poverty, sexual harassment and employment in the transport sector.  Section 4 proposes urban transport indicators and service level benchmarks for comprehensive mobility plans. Recommendations to improve women’s modal shares and experiences of walking, cycling, public and intermediate public transport, and engendering public transport authorities, are highlighted in Section 5.  Since urban transport is not the responsibility of one ministry or department, gender inclusion will require interventions at multiple scales and coordination with a number of ministries and departments. Section 6 identifies such ministries and departments and their potential role in mainstreaming gender.

Women’s access and use of urban transportation will play a key role in achieving India’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) and ensure women’s right to the city and its public spaces. To quote Shreya Gadepalli, who leads the ITDP India Programme, “When we create cities – their public spaces and transport systems – that are responsive to the needs of women, children and the elderly, they become great cities for all!” 

 

Download the policy brief here.

 

  1. List of organisations that participated in the roundtable: Akshara Centre, Asian Development Bank, Azad Foundation, Breakthrough, Centre for Urban Equity (CUE), Confederate of Indian Industry (CII), Columbia Global Centre, Cornell University, CORO, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Centre for Road Research Institute in India (CRRI), Centre for Women and Development Studies (CWDS), Delhi University, DIMTS, Hindustan Times, iTrans, Jagori, Janki Devi Memorial College (JDMC), KfW, Manas Foundation, Oak foundation, Oasis Design, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Plan India, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Ansal University, Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS), Toji Communication Consultancy, TRIPP-IIT Delhi, UBER, UITP, UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank, World Resources Institute (WRI)
  2. This data is likely to under represent women and girls’ mobility as their care trips are not measured.

Money’s worth: Pune sets exemplary sustrans budget

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Written by Mayank Balakrishnan | Edited by Nashwa Naushad

“I don’t have my own vehicle. Does that mean I’m not entitled to space on the street?” In the past, this had been the cry of many in one of Maharashtra’s most prominent upcoming smart cities – Pune. However, over the years, the tides have turned, with the city taking greater efforts to improve walking, cycling and public transportation facilities for its people. Last year’s budget proposal especially, witnessed a paradigm shift in Pune’s transportation expenditure — Rs.397 crores (i.e) over half of the city’s transport budget, was spent on sustainable transport initiatives.

The good news does not end there – this rain of resources will continue to shower in 2017-18, with more funds for achieving the city’s sustrans vision. Rs.534 crores have been assigned for sustainable transportation projects, out of a total transportation budget of Rs. 1040 crores for the city (51%).

Upgradation of the existing Satara Road BRT has been initiated.

Around 52% of a total of Rs. 769 crores spent last year on transportation, was for sustrans projects, as allocated in the 2016-17 budget for Pune. These expenses are materialising today. JM Road, one of the busiest stretches in the city, is being redesigned with wide footpaths and a cycle track on both sides. 21km of BRT construction along with upgradation of the existing Satara Road BRT corridor in the city has been initiated.

Pune is set to make an even bigger leap this year. The sustrans projects to be undertaken with the 2017-18 budget include NMT improvements with Rs.56 crores, in addition to Rs.80 crores allotted for the construction of cycle tracks. The city aims to eventually create over 100km of cycle tracks in a phase-wise manner. The budget also allocates Rs.137 crores to complete on-going BRT redesign and expansion work.

DP Road in Aundh turns vibrant with a 500m pilot stretch redesigned by Prasanna Desai Architects. 60kms of footpaths are to be redesigned as part of the Smart City Proposal.

Furthermore, Pune’s Smart City Proposal (SCP) of Rs 1100 crore would be used to create 42 km of cycle tracks, 60 km of redesigned footpaths – 500m of which has been kicked off vibrantly in Aundh on D.P. Road, 8 km of BRT corridor, and for the procurement of E-buses and technology based projects such as command control centers, smart ticketing, smart bus stops, integrated road asset management and developing a traffic app.

Throughout Pune’s sustrans journey so far, ITDP has provided the requested technical assistance to PMC, helping them review street and BRT corridor designs. ITDP will continue to assist the corporation with its future endeavours. Considering the current developments, PMC is sure to continue channelising its resources in the right direction – towards creating a sustainable Pune!

 

Note: The total transportation budget includes projects by Road department, PMPML and Projects departments
1 Cr = 10 million | 1 US$ = approx. Rs 65

 

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Coimbatore’s sustrans initiatives lauded by international experts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Lakes and Greenways-02

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coimbatore Smart Streets Exhibition marks the beginning of the city’s street transformation

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“This is a well-conceived project. If you can translate this into reality, it will be heaven”. This is what Mr. P. Nagaraj, an 83-year old citizen of Coimbatore, had to say after viewing the life-sized visualisations of the Model Roads on display at the Coimbatore Smart Streets Exhibition. His words echoed the opinion of many who attended the exhibition, all of whom eagerly await Coimbatore’s street transformation.

The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation organised the exhibition to inform the public in detail about the designs of the 6 Model Roads. People voiced their thoughts about the designs and the feedback collected will help shape the final designs of Coimbatore’s Smart Streets. The Coimbatore Street Design and Management Policy was also launched during the exhibition, marking an important milestone for the city!

Coimbatore Smart Streets Exhibition 1

The policy that has been adopted by the city, provides guidelines for the transformation of Coimbatore’s streets. Ambitious goals have been set to promote safe and equitable access for all users. These include increasing mode share of walking and cycling to at least 50% of all trips and that of public transport to 50% of all motorised trips in 15 years. The policy also aims to stabilise the number of vehicle kilometres travelled by personal motor vehicles (PMVs) by 2031, ensuring it does not exceed beyond 20% of the current figure.

The Coimbatore Street Design & Management Policy was launched in the presence of the dignitaries of the day: Left to Right - Mr. Sandeep Nanduri IAS, Commissioner of Madurai City Municipal Corporation, Mr. T.K.Majumdar, Director, Internal Finance, Ministry of Urban Development, Mr. Prakash Govindasami IAS, Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Ms. Shreya Gadepalli, Director- South Asia, ITDP, Dr. K.VIjayakarthikeyan IAS, Commissioner of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Ms. P.Gandhimathi, Deputy Commissioner, Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation

The Coimbatore Street Design & Management Policy was launched in the presence of the dignitaries of the day: Left to Right – Mr. Sandeep Nanduri IAS, Commissioner of Madurai City Municipal Corporation, Mr. T.K.Majumdar, Director, Internal Finance, Ministry of Urban Development, Mr. Prakash Govindasami IAS, Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Ms. Shreya Gadepalli, Director- South Asia, ITDP, Dr. K.VIjayakarthikeyan IAS, Commissioner of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Ms. P.Gandhimathi, Deputy Commissioner, Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation

At the inaugural event, the Commissioner of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Dr. K. Vijayakarthikeyan IAS, explained that Model roads, as the name suggests, are those streets that will be exemplary of the kind that Coimbatore will have in the future – a model to look up to. These streets will include high quality walking and cycling facilities, improved access to public transport, organised parking & vending zones and streamlined junctions.The Model Roads project is an initiative by the Corporation under the Smart Cities Mission, hence the coinage of the term ‘Smart Streets’.

The Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Mr. Prakash Govindasami IAS delivered the special address at the event. “Everybody might not have a car, but we all have legs. We need to have the freedom to walk safely on the streets. And your voice should help make that happen”, stressed Mr. Prakash, explaining how the government inviting public participation in their initiatives, is the approach of this day and age.

The public raised interesting opinions about the design of the streets, including requests to provide bus bays and entry/exit angles in parking bays. Advait Jani, Program Coordinator at the Institute for Transportation and Developmental Policy, replied, “Buses tend to move straight instead of making the turn into and out of a bus bay. Also, bus bays eat up much space – space that could otherwise be provided to pedestrians for walking. As to turning angles in parking bays, they benefit only the first and last slots in a bay. The splays work only in taxi bays as there is continuous movement and a queuing system is followed.”

 

Coimbatore-Smart-Streets-Exhibition-2

Another concern among the people was the absence of exit lanes at intersections, which might hinder with free flow of traffic. “Exit lanes are generally provided in highways where vehicles are expected to move fast and continuously, not at intersections on urban roads. Moreover, according to current traffic regulations, free lefts are forbidden. They are dangerous as well to the pedestrians crossing the road, and increase crossing distance”, said Advait Jani.

The intersection testing that was conducted along with the exhibition, helped the architects and transportation experts explain the concept better. The junction of TV Swamy and DB Roads is proposed to become an iconic intersection with increased safety for all users. The proposed design creates a tighter intersection and thus reduced vehicle turning speed. This was tested out on-site for a period of four days, with space at all 4 corners of the intersection reclaimed for the pedestrians with exciting artwork.

Coimbatore Intersection testing

Following the exhibition, excavation has started on DB Road to allow for construction to begin soon. The Corporation has set a deadline of 3 months for the completion of DB and TV Swamy roads in the first phase of the project. Once constructed, these streets will become the pedestrians’ haven!

 

 

Jharkhand’s Vision 2026 set to embrace Transit-Oriented Development

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“I would like to see Transit-oriented development materialize on the ground”, stated C.P.Singh, the Urban Development Minister of Jharkhand, at the public consultation workshop held in July, for the adoption of the Jharkhand Transit-oriented Development Policy (JTODP). The workshop, organized in Ranchi by the Urban Development and Housing Department (UD&HD), thus backed by political will, was an important step towards realizing Jharkhand’s vision of making its cities safe and sustainable.

The Jharkhand government has set high goals to this end in the proposed State Transit-oriented Development (TOD) Policy. According to this policy, by 2026, public transport, walking and cycling will become the predominant modes of transport for over 80% of the city trips, thereby reducing usage of personal motor vehicles to less than 20%. Quality  public transport will be accessible to a majority of the population within a 400m walk. Further, more than 50% of the residents in larger cities will have access to rapid transit at the same walking distance. Reduced trip lengths have also been aimed at. Once adopted, the policy will guide the future growth of all cities in Jharkhand.

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By 2031, Jharkhand’s urban population is expected to double to 13.85 million!

The 21st century has seen an increase in Jharkhand’s urban population by 32% from 2001 to 2011, totaling at 7.9 million — 67% of which is constituted by 11 cities with a population of 1 lakh and more. Unplanned rapid urban growth in these cities has translated into low-density urban sprawl, longer commutes, increased dependence on personal motorized vehicles, congestion and pollution. This disastrous outcome is a result of conventional car-centric planning and insufficient development of sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport.

By 2031, the number of city inhabitants in Jharkhand is expected to further double to 13.85 million! With its cities urbanizing at such quick rates, Jharkhand faces the challenge of planning this transition in ways that will ultimately provide a safe, affordable, sustainable and inclusive environment for its citizens. The state is looking to bring about this paradigm change by adopting a TOD-approach.

In contrast to the current method of development, TOD involves actively planning for future mixed use developments — residential, commercial, and other uses — within a compact city form, so that most citizens live, work, and play within walking distance of public transit. Well designed and fully realized TOD areas can play a transformative role in the city’s economic and cultural well-being, creating vibrant and lively places for people of all ages and income groups. Adequate parking fees and overall reduction in parking supply can disincentivize the use of personal motor vehicles.

Key features of TOD

Key features of TOD


At the consultation workshop held in Ranchi, Ms. Shreya Gadepalli – Regional Director, South Asia, ITDP – presented the key features of the Jharkhand TOD policy. She reinforced the primary principle that streets are meant for people rather than for cars and stressed the need to adopt a transit-first approach to help achieve social inclusion, safety and resource efficiency. The presentation also sought to bust many parking myths and laid emphasis on managing and pricing on-street parking to restrict private vehicle use. The necessary changes to be made to the bye-laws and institutional framework were then elaborated.

Following the presentation was a dynamic discussion with the stakeholders — including Principal Secretary and Director of UD&HD along with town planners; Municipal Commissioners of Ranchi; Director, State Urban Development Authority; members of CREDAI and Architects Association of Ranchi. The discussion brought out the likely challenges in implementing the JTOD policy and sought solutions for the same, such as selection of transit corridors for TOD-transformation.

Ranchi Workshop

Following the presentation was a dynamic discussion with the stakeholders.

The consultation workshop witnessed Vision 2026 being received with promising welcome and endorsed by most stakeholders – along with a much needed political backing. It can be expected to soon transform Jharkhand’s urban spaces into people- and environment-friendly pockets, giving way to safe, sustainable and inclusive cities!

Pune’s progressive parking policy shows the way forward for Indian cities

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Like many Indian cities, Pune is witnessing a spurt in urban growth that is also accompanied by growth in private vehicle ownership. The Regional Transport Office in Pune registers almost 500 new vehicles every day. With such explosive growth in the number of automobiles, the demand for parking escalates, resulting in footpaths and available open spaces being swallowed by formal or informal parking lots.

To address these concerns, Pune has proposed a parking policy that focuses on the need to shift people away from cars, towards public transport modes. It acknowledges that creating excessive, cheap parking to keep up rising demand doesn’t solve parking problems. Instead, the policy discourages free parking, and calls for differential parking rates pegged to demand. By stressing that users pay directly for parking, the policy discourages direct and indirect public subsidies for private vehicle use and ensures that personal motor vehicle users bear the full cost of driving.

A zone-based approach to parking management

Demand for parking spaces is affected by a host of factors such as location, surrounding land-use, economic activity and traffic volumes. City centres and business districts often see high demand for parking as compared to other areas. In the zone-based approach proposed in this policy, Pune will be divided into 4 parking zones, each with their own parking rules and rates.

Zone A includes the central areas of Pune. As intense development is expected around transit corridors in the future, transit influence zones are also demarcated for better parking management. Areas close to rapid transit, located within 100 metres around of mobility corridors are designated as Zone B while Zone C includes areas located from 100 to 500 metres of transit corridors. Others areas are designated as Zone D.

Proposed parking zones in Pune

Pricing parking to manage demand

To manage demand for parking, encourage efficient use of parking facilities, address specific parking problems and ensure that the parking is available for intended users, the policy proposes various pricing strategies. As cars occupy more road space compared to motorcycles, base parking rates for cars are proposed to be 4 times that of two-wheelers.

As parking demand varies by time of day as well as day of the week, the policy calls for rates to be determined considering these factors as well. By stating that parking must be charged proportional to the amount of time parked, the policy discourages discounts for longer-term parking.

Parking rates also vary based on the zones in which the vehicle is parked in. Zones with high parking demand are proposed to have higher parking rates. Lower parking rates are proposed in Zone D that includes residential and other areas not served by transit. For instance, parking a car on-street in Zone A would cost Rs 71 per hour whereas parking it in Zone D would cost Rs 30 per hour. To encourage people to use off-street parking facilities where available, off-street parking rates are proposed to be lower than on-street parking rates in the same zone.

Parking rates vary by vehicle type and location of parking spot. (Left) Areas of high parking demand have higher on-street parking rates. (Right) Off-street parking rates are lower than on-street parking rates in the corresponding zone.

The policy uses pricing strategies as a tool to encourage walking, cycling and public transport. Cycles are exempt from parking charges at all locations in the city. As auto rickshaws and taxis are important means of providing last mile connectivity to and from transit hubs, these vehicles too are exempt from parking charges, provided that they are parked in dedicated parking slots meant for them.

Framework to implement reforms

Successful implementation of customer-oriented, parking management systems require detailed planning and coordination between various agencies. In addition to day-to-day operations, communicating the benefits of parking management to the public is crucial. In this regard, the policy recommends creation of a Parking Management Cell, chaired by the Municipal Commissioner and supported by a team of competent professionals, who will be responsible for planning, implementation and overseeing parking operations in the city.

Many cities around the world have successfully used parking revenue to improve transit options. Barcelona used surplus revenue from on-street parking fees to fund its cycle sharing system. Several boroughs in London use revenue from parking to subsidize public transport passes for the disabled and the elderly. In keeping with these best practices, Pune’s draft parking policy also recommends channeling surplus revenue from parking to a dedicated public transport and non-motorised transport fund to create better facilities for walking, cycling and public transport.

With such provisions, Pune’s progressive policy not only addresses issues related to parking, but also strives to create a better urban environment centered around people, rather than vehicles.

Read the draft policy here: Suruvath: Public Parking Policy 2016.

Discover the basics of parking management and regulation in ITDP’s publication, Parking Basics.

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ITDP signs MoU with Thane to develop comprehensive transport solutions

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Thane is a fast growing city situated in the state of Maharashtra, adjacent to the city of Mumbai. As per the 2011 Census, the city had a population of about 1.8 million. Due to high cost of living in Mumbai, and presence of rail connectivity between the two cities, a large number of people reside in Thane and travel to Mumbai for work every day. As a result, Thane railway station is the focal point of most trips in the city, attracting a significant number of commuters who take buses, rickshaws or walk to access the station.

The city has grown rapidly over the last couple of decades. The west- and east-ward expansion of the city is constrained due to presence of natural features like hills and water bodies respectively, and the mega city of Mumbai itself lies on southwest of Thane.  This leaves mostly only the north and northwest areas available for further development. These areas are served by Ghodbunder Road, and the geographical constrains mean that most development is within 2 km from this arterial road. This road is therefore ideally suited to be a good model of transit-oriented development.

To address the transportation needs of these areas, ITDP was invited by the Thane Municipal Corporation to provide technical support to develop rapid transit in the region, along with better walking and cycling facilities. ITDP signed an MoU with the Thane Municipal Corporation on 2nd April 2016 to assist the city in these projects. In addition to improving pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in the city, ITDP will also carry out comprehensive assessments to understand existing situation and propose a holistic transport solution for the city.

ITDP and TMC sign an MoU to work towards comprehensive transport solutions for the city.

Thane Municipal Corporation and ITDP sign an MoU to develop comprehensive transport solutions for the city.

These sustainable transport projects, together with residential and commercial development in the region, can help transform Thane into a model of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in the future.

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