Addressing Mobility Challenges in Hill Cities

Road Network

The study of speed and delay characteristics of Aizawl reveals fairly low journey speeds along the main spine of the city, on an average at about 18.6km per hour, which could fall to below 4km per hour during peak hours in certain stretches. Apart from the central areas, low journey speeds were observed on stretches in peripheral areas too, owing to poor road conditions and geometrics. On looking at the scenario, it can be concluded that the challenge that lays before the municipal authorities, the stakeholders and the State Government is very daunting.

Origin-Destination Trips

Another aspect that needs attention is the origin destination pattern of the city which reveals a compact work-home relationship. Almost 29% of the total trips from the household survey are performed within the zone of residence. Further, major attraction zones are also significant producers of home based trips. This clearly indicates a mixed-use scenario where major work centers and residential areas are closely situated.

Modal Share of Aizawl City

Walk is the most popular mode in Aizawl accounting for almost half of the total travel demand with an average trips length of just under one kilometer. However, excluding walk, minibuses account for almost 50% of the trips performed while taxis over 20%. Private modes namely two wheelers and cars account for only about 21% of the total travel demand. Majority of the trips are by walking and due to lack of pedestrian facilities and public transport, congestion on roads is caused. Therefore, there is a need to provide pedestrian services as well as public transport.

Some key challenges

Typical terrain and network conditions are the constraints for expanding the road widths and further the road conditions restricting the capacity of lanes. The 429km roads are very narrow and only 40% of the roads have of ROW of more than 10m. It is found that on-street vehicular parking in many places, especially congested areas, blocks at least 1.8m of the road width. Urban road network in the core area is congested and offers limited scope for capacity augmentation. Stoppage of public transit vehicles often takes place on the carriageway itself, creating congestion as the carriageway width is less. Due to lack of appropriate pedestrian facilities, most people prefer to walk along the carriageway. This creates huge interference to the vehicular traffic flow along the carriageway leading to low travel speed and high travel delay.

Most of the links do not have adequate footpaths on both sides to accommodate the high pedestrian volume – forcing them to move along the carriageway. Taxi parking along the carriageway as well as low occupancy of taxis is one of the major contributors to the congestion, particularly within the core area. There are no organized facilities available for inter-city travel in terms of bus or taxi terminals, thereby causing inconvenience to tourists and other inter-city travelers. Most intercity taxi operations are scattered in the City Centre. This mixing of inter and intra-city traffic further causes problems of conflict and congestion. There are no organized facilities available for commercial goods traffic..

The Road Ahead

Though it is indeed a daunting task to improve mobility in Aizawl city, the city authorities and the State Government are taking various steps to decongest the city. A Non-Motorised City Specific Plan for Aizawl City has been prepared by iTrans, New Delhi under Sustainable Urban Transport Project (India), sponsored by the Ministry of Urban Development. This plan aims to address the shortage of public stairs, provision for safety and security, pedestianising commercial streets, and a small component of bike sharing system. Apart from this, the State Government is contemplating construction and installation of ropeways in the city. For this purpose, the Asian Development Bank has given technical assistance to the State Government under TA 8765 IND: Supporting Sustainable Urban Transport in Aizawl City. Some of the key components are provision for East-West Ropeway of about 5.5 kms; improved high quality bus services with bus shelters on the north-south corridor of about 10 kilometers, provision for improvement of road junctions, footways & access and introduction of unified bus management organisation.