Challenges:

The Urban Transportation System In India

A Literature Review
by
Kamal Sachdev
Postgraduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Marwadi Education Foundation, Rajkot, India
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Abstract

Urban transportation in india is diverse. India has 1.1 billion people and the transportation system has to cater
to the needs of those. In 2012-2013, the sector contributed about 5.2 per cent to the nation’s GDP, with road
transportation having a major share of it.[1]

For economic growth, it is very crucial to connect urban and rural areas. Urban transport in india has played a
very vital role in the reduction of poverty by giving opportunities to the labour markets which indirectly helps
the poorer communities. Increasing demand of transporting goods and people has increased tremendously
over years. Due to the increasing mobility flow in India, access to many remote places and other services have
become extremely difficult as far as cost, convenience and time are concerned. Current state of Urban
Transportation is a classic example of air pollution, traffic fatalities and congestion on the roads. The sector
below poverty line faces a huge problem when there is no access to public transit option hence they have to
either cover the distance by long walks or using cycles for long distances. As the urban cities continue to grow,
the poors who can’t afford the motorized transport will have a cut off from the educational, medical,
recreational, employment and other needs. Due to the migration of people from smaller towns or remote places
to the metro cities, the population bar in the metro cities has raised, which in return has made the streets and
roads of the cities congested and polluted. Building on this background, the literature measures the magnitude
of the problems associated with urban transportation in India.

Keywords: Urbanization, Road Congestion, Pollution, Policy formulation
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1. Introduction

India is urbanising. Its urban population is growing at an average rate of around 3% per year. The average rate
of growth of the urban population is not expected to change significantly during the next ten years or so.
Assuming decadal increase of around 32%, India’s urban population is expected to increase from 377 million in
2011 to 500 million in 2021. In terms of percentage of total population, the urban population has gone up from
17% in 1951 to 31.8% in 2011 and is expected to increase up to around 35% by the year 2021. During the
2000s, 91 million people joined the ranks of urban dwellers – which implies that the growth rate in urban areas
remains almost the same during the last twenty years; urban population increased by 31.5% from 1991 to
2001 and 31.8% from 2001 to 2011. However, the number of metropolitan cities – those with a million plus
population – has increased sharply over this period. From 35 in 2001, the number of metropolitan cities rose to
50 according to the Census of India, 2011. Out of these 50, eight cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Pune – have population more than 5 million. India’s big cities now
account for a larger share of total urban population – a trend that has been observed since independence. In
2011, the share of metropolitan cities was 42.3%, up from 37.8% in 2001 and 27.7% in 1991. What does this
increase has accounted for! The mobility flow in India has tremendously grown up due to this.

2. Trends influencing urban mobility in India

The predominant trends influencing mobility of urban population in Indian cities are rapid urbanisation, rising
motorisation and dwindling modal share of Non-Motorised Transport (NMT). These factors have resulted in a
sudden rise in the demand for travel. At the same time, the rapidly increasing levels of motor vehicle ownership
and use has resulted in an alarming increase of negative externalities such as road congestion, air pollution,
road fatalities, and social issues of equity and security.

3. Urban Transport Problems:

I. Road congestion

As populations increase, the average travel distances as well as intensity are expected to increase as there is a
direct correlation between the two indicators. Average trips lengths for metro cities including Bengaluru are
over 8 km, while it is 6 km or less for all other metro cities. This trend in trip length and frequency is only
expected to increase with increasing income levels, migration, participation of women and a service-oriented
economy. As more people travel over longer distances on regular basis for employment and education
purposes, will inevitably lead to road congestion.

II. Parking problems

The acute shortage of parking spaces both on and off the streets in Indian cities increases the time spent
searching for a parking spot and induces traffic congestion. Available data shows that a high proportion of
Indian streets are faced with on-street parking issue (Rye, 2010). This problem is especially acute in smaller,
compact Indian cities. Delhi has 14 per cent of road lengths used for on-street parking while Surat has almost
60 per cent of its road lengths blocked by on-street parking (See Figure 1).

On-street parking is perversely incentivized because it is either free or priced lower than off-street parking.
Even if cities invest in multilevel car parks in prime areas, the parking rates are not expected to recover the
costs (Rye, 2010). In Delhi, the public parking charges are fixed as low as Rs10 for 8 hours during the daytime
when it should be at least Rs 40 per hour (Roychowdhury, 2013). Kolkata has the highest parking charges in
India and these charges are time and place variable, i.e. higher parking charges in specific commercial zones
and the rates increase by the hour. In Kolkata, a car pays Rs 80 for eight hours of parking during daytime, while
in Delhi MCD region, car parking charges are as low as Rs10 for up to 10 hours of parking.

Even in the densest Indian cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi, cars (typical spot = 280 sq. ft.)
occupy more space than a family of four (range from 85-250 sq. ft. depending on income level) (Gauthier,
2012). In several Indian cities, commercial development of vacant plots has taken place without following
systematic planning procedures for access and mixed use. This induces heavy traffic leading to localized
congestion and parking issues in the neighbourhood. An example is the religious gathering at BAPS
swaminarayan Temple at Rajkot. It triggered public protests against traffic gridlock and parking issues in the
neighbourhood. Similarly, public parking by the developers in the mill areas of Mumbai has led to traffic snarls
on the adjacent arterial roads, forcing a slight rollback of the policy (Roychowdhury, 2013). Another issue with
unregulated parking is the skirmishes amongst neighbours over parking space. In many cities, particularly in
Delhi, there is animosity amongst several neighbours over parking spaces that have resulted in serious injuries
and even murder (Roychowdhury, 2013). Unless parking issues are addressed through a systematic planning
process and strict enforcement, such issues will only exacerbate over time in Indian cities.

III Air pollution

The severity of air pollution in Indian cities is judged based on CPCB’s (Central Pollution Control Board) air
quality classification. According to available air quality data (Kamyotra etal., 2012), of 180 Indian cities, there is
a wide variation in the pollution concentration and severity across cities. Cities are considered critically
polluted if the levels of criteria pollutants (namely PM10 and NO2) are more than 1.5 times the standard.
Results show that half of the residential areas in cities monitored by CPCB are at critical levels of air pollution
(Kamyotra et al., 2012).

According to US-based Health Effects Institute, people residing within 500 metres from roads are exposed to
vehicular fumes. The danger is especially pronounced when diesel vehicles are operating, as diesel emissions
are known to trigger adverse respiratory health effects. A study of select Indian cities indicates that the share of
transport sector’s contribution increases when tinier fractions of particulates are considered. In Indore,
transport contributes to 30 per cent of PM10 but 46 per cent of PM2.5, while in Chennai, it is 20 per cent of
PM10 and 35 per cent of PM2.5. Air pollution in Indian cities is the fifth leading cause of death in India.
Annually, about 620,000 premature deaths occur due to air pollution in Indian cities (Roychowdhury, 2013).
Premature deaths due to air pollution occur as a consequence of cardio-vascular ailments. Over a decade, air
quality management attempts have met with mixed responses. Metro cities that have initiated pollution control
action have witnessed either stabilization or dip in the pollution levels, however, in other cities, the situation
has been observed to be getting worse. Toxic air and its effects on health are seriously compromising the
‘livability’ of Indian cities.

IV. Deteriorating road safety

The high dependence of migrants on non-motorised transport modes such as walking and cycling causes traffic
mix in common roads where fast-moving motorised traffic shares the roads with slow-moving modes leading
to an increasing number of fatalities and road accidents (WHO, 2013). In most Indian cities, non-motorised
modes like cycling and walking presently share the same right of way as cars and two-wheelers leading to
unsafe conditions for all (National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2008). The number of fatalities is also
increasing in relation to the increasing motorisation and higher slow-moving vehicles in the traffic stream.
While progress has been made towards protecting people in cars, the needs of vulnerable groups of road users,
primarily cyclists and pedestrians, are not being met.

4. Challenges

Generally, each city has its own unique history, characteristics and related problems, but problems in urban
cities in India are characteristically similar to other cities in developing countries. Some salient issues and
challenges identified from expert interviews, literature review and personal experiences for Indian cities that
cause or compound the urban transport problems are as follows:

a) Gaps in Laws and Regulations
b) Fragmented Institutional Frameworks
c) Distorted land markets affecting transport infrastructure Development
d) Comprehensive design standards for transport infrastructure Lacking
e) Human Resource challenges
f) Absence of reliable transport data
g) Inefficiencies in bus based PT services
h) Energy Security

5. Concluding Remarks

From the above literature, it is very clear that the transport demand has increased rapidly over time. Increase
in Transport demand has substantially increased the pollution. The transport demand has also increased due to
the natural increase of population plus the migration taking place in the metro cities from the rural areas and
smaller towns. Increase in motorized transport, commercial and industrial activities and also the household
income has added to it. On the other hand, the public transport system in India has not been able to keep pace
with the rapid growing transport demand. People prefer to use private vehicles instead of using public
transport in order to be on time at the work place, meet up with other commercial or recreational
commitments. The BRTS and rail based services are again limited to fewer big cities only. Due to the substantial
increase in the population and the migration, the public transport is always found to be overcrowded during
the peak hours. Due to all of these reasons, the use of private or personalized transport such as cars and two-
wheelers, auto rickshaws and taxis is given more preference.

Till now the function of public transport was to satisfy the transport needs of less affluent members of society
but now it has to grow enough to contribute to congestion and environment preservation. To lessen the
congestion and to bring stabilization in the environment, it is very crucial to attract people for using public
transport. The metro cities should develop and contribute to the problem of rapid urbanization by increasing
the public transport services. Example – Metro city like Rajkot do not have sufficient public transport facilities
to meet with the need of population of Rajkot.

Not to forget that congestion, rising air pollution and a very high risk of accidents faced in the metro cities of
India are taking a leap year by year. This problem will intensify, as the population will always keep on
increasing by coming decades. More pressure will develop within cities due to congestion, air pollution and
parking problems. All of these problems listed above, require a comprehensive study and development of
workable strategies. The main objective of these strategies should be to provide and promote sustainable
transport for people and goods, to and from, within the given framework of the city. The strategy should be to
design the public transport in such a way that it reduces the usage of private transport and gives a boost to
public transport system. The policies should be reframed wherein the usage of clean fuel is recognized.
Rewards make people motivate to follow sustainable steps. Recognition should be given to the crowd, which
emphasizes the usage of clean fuel and proper maintenance of the vehicles. Highly scrutinized and well-framed
policies will definitely help the rapidly growing urbanization to keep the ecosystem in balance, lessen the
parking issues and congestion in metro cities.


References

[1] Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Knowledge gateway, Problems with rapidly growing urbanization.

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