Page 71 - TT mag Oct-Nov -Digital

SMART MOBILITY 2018

Focusing on urban mobility and land account for only 25% of all trips,
use, he opined that they go hand in occupy almost 70% of available space.
hand, and can make or mar the quality On the other hand, half of all trips are
of life. He urged town planners to take made on non-motorised vehicles or on
a macro-level look at the overall land foot, but there are no dedicated cycle
use plan; does it promote comfort or lanes or well-maintained footpaths,
complication? forcing cyclists and pedestrians to find
Coming to urban mobility and public dangerous ways of navigation. Tellingly,
transport, he gave the example of ageing 50% of those who die in road accidents
public buses and their flaws: senior are pedestrians or on two-wheelers.
citizens and children found it difficult to Diving deeper into the ease of the
climb 4-5 steps every time they entered commute, he emphasised that last-mile More and more
or exited, there was no proper seating, connectivity is very important. Every
no air-conditioning and too much time a Metro train stops at a station, vehicles will be
jostling when it was time to alight. Not a few hundred people alight at the bought but it isn’t
long ago, 30% of all trips were made same time. The Metro is designed to
in buses; that number is now down to transport them together, but there is necessary that each
a measly 20%. He compared this to no plan to convey these people who vehicle should be
the new Bus Rapid Transport System have alighted at the station to their final
(BRTS) buses, which are comfortable, destination. According to him, if there is taken out every day.
air-conditioned and with low floors. 50 km of a Metro in a city, there should We need to change
These buses are designed to operate be 150 km of BRTS. Since the cost/
over short distances, and hence have km ratio of BRTS to Metro is just 1:15, the mentality to make
less sitting and more standing room, BRTS should be implemented first, and people understand
reducing overcrowding. A comfortable Metro later. Unfortunately, the reverse
commute ensures that the commuter is is currently in vogue. He urged that that if their vehicles
not fatigued even before he reaches his more resources should be allocated to are left at home, the
workplace; productivity increases. modes of transport that contribute to
more trips. whole city will be
If a citizen has to shift from a cab Around half of all pedestrian trips are
to a metro to a bus to get to his made by women, often with children. happier.
workplace and repeat the sequence Our Indian attitude towards road safety
on the way back home, he shouldn’t includes ignoring red lights and crossing Krishna Prasad
have to stand in queue to buy a ticket roads willy-nilly, posing great risk to life
every time the mode of transport and limb. To reduce this threat, Krishna Parking is not a right for everyone
changes; ticketing should be seamless. Prasad cited the Paris city experiment, in owning a vehicle. Mobile app-based
Reducing travel time by appropriate which speed limits within the city were smart parking is the solution to the daily
road engineering, and addressing the reduced from 60 miles/hour to 50, and hunt for parking space. Car-owners
pollution caused by vehicles will go a eventually to 40. Accidents were found need to be encouraged to shift to ride-
long way in encouraging the shift to to have reduced drastically. Unlike sharing, for which the government
public transport, as well as improving European and American cities, Indian needs to frame laws and policies.
public health. cities have mixed traffic; a bus, a bullock A Unified Metropolitan Transport
Between public and private vehicles, cart and a BMW are all in the same Authority needs to co-ordinate all
which group occupies more road space carriage way! Hence, he recommends a modes of transport to ensure that India
and which provides better services? maximum speed limit of 30 miles/hour too follows the global trend of gradually
The irony is that private vehicles, which for Indian cities. fewer vehicular trips.

www.trafficinfratech-com-500653.hostingersite.com October-November ’18 / TrafficInfraTech 71