Page 37 - TT Magazine Aug-Sep 2018

MOBILITY

lush green city surrounded by hills to its west, Pune was for
long ordained as the pensioner’s paradise. That is till the Rainbow at the end of the
last couple of decades, during which the city underwent a tunnel
tremendous transformation. Now a bustling metropolitan,
Athe city has been caught in the throes of urbanisation and Back in 2007, Pune city officials realised
residents left to deal with the many woes compelled upon them. that transportation plays a pivotal role
in meeting its sustainability goals. And
Realising the city was not far from spiraling out of bound, city officials, bringing about this systematic change
in 2007, proposed a set of ambitious goals for a sustainable future. A required an improvement of the public
decade later, Pune has begun reaping the benefits of taking a sustainable transport sector from the ground-up.
path—which till a few years back was an afterthought for many Indian Focus soon shifted to Pune’s robust bus
cities. The city’s efforts have been corroborated by its selection to service, which required a complementary
various Central programmes and felicitations, such as being one of the network system, such as the bus rapid
“Lighthouse Cities” under the nationwide urban renewal program, the transit (BRT) system, to meet the city’s
Smart Cities Mission, etc. growing urban mobility needs.
In 2015, the city launched the
Rainbow bus rapid transit (BRT) system.
The 38km-long corridor serves more
than 120,000 people per day, by means
of its high-quality and best-practice
design features. By retrieving 12% of
its ridership from other modes, primarily
private vehicles, Rainbow BRT proved it
effectiveness and an additional 43 km
expansion is on the cards.
“Mass rapid transit is the most
efficient way to transport large numbers
of people around a city and is therefore
essential for development,” said Kunal
Kumar, the then Commissioner of the
Pune Municipal Corporation.
Complete solutions with
“Complete Streets”
Pune has also devoted significant
resources to making its streets people-
friendly. In 2009, under the JNNURM
Mission city-modernisation scheme, Pune
began improving its network of roads
by equipping them with infrastructure
such as footpaths and cycle tracks. The
move received a hearty response from
pedestrians and cyclist, as it offered
them a fair representation in the urban
design space. It further sparked interest
among decision-makers and officials to
undertake similar projects that would
cater to the needs of all road users
by developing a “Complete Streets”
network.

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