[Urbanstudy] Urban transport: accessibility for all is the way forward

[Vinay Baindur]

Urban transport: accessibility for all is the way forward
Madhav G Badami

An item in The Times of India (March 19) reported on the results of a survey
which showed that the public believe that the poor quality of our roads is
the No. 1 reason, followed closely by poor traffic management and lack of
proper (sic) infrastructure like flyovers for traffic congestion, which
itself appears, according to the item, to be the primary public concern. I
can certainly empathize with the frustration with the congestion on our
roads, having been stuck in traffic in Bangalore and other Indian cities,
but I am concerned that this frustration will lead to an excessive, even if
not exclusive, focus on road-building (and road widening) as a solution to
our urban transport woes.
While there is an important role for personal and other motor vehicles (and
infrastructure for these modes, as well as effective traffic management),
there is also a crucially important role for walking and cycling, and
infrastructure and facilities — such as controlled pedestrian crossings —
for the safe and convenient use of these modes, if we want to mitigate the
serious impacts of rapidly growing motor vehicle activity.
Providing infrastructure for motor vehicles, while ignoring that for the
non-motorized modes, will likely increase already serious access and time
loss, and road safety, impacts for the many who own no motor vehicles, and
therefore have no choice but to walk and cycle. Further, while road-building
may improve speeds for motor vehicles and ease congestion in the short term,
it will, as international experience has shown, very likely be neutralized
over the longer term, by rendering the other modes even more unviable,
increasing the need for motor vehicle ownership and use, and forcing motor
vehicle owners to needlessly drive even for short distances, leading to ever
more motor vehicle activity and congestion, and the need to build more
roads, in a vicious spiral.
It is likely that we are already seeing the negative effects of the neglect
of infrastructure for walking and cycling in Bangalore. The data for the
city show that as many as 38% of all persontrips are by personal (mainly
two-wheeled) motor vehicles, with another 41% by buses, and only 17% by walk
and cycle. The last figure is a lot lower (and the first a lot higher) than
in other major Indian cities, including Delhi, by far the most motorized
Indian city. If in fact the low walk and cycle shares are a faithful
representation of reality, rather than the result of under-counting of these
trips, it is likely that they are at least partly a reflection of the highly
compromised access for these modes, due to rapidly growing motor vehicle
activity, and planning to accommodate it. Ignoring walking and cycling can
become a self-fulfilling prophecy; the less you provide for them, the less
these modes will be used.
Infrastructure for walking and cycling is vitally important, because these
modes are potentially competitive in terms of door-to-door journey times
with cars and even metro, and many more people would likely use them,
especially for short and medium distance trips, which account for a large
proportion of all trips, if adequate facilities were provided for them; and
given that pedestrian accessibility is crucially important for the viability
of public transit. 'Build it and they will come' is as true of pedestrians
and cyclists as it is of motor vehicles.
Finally, while reliable, convenient, affordable, and widespread public
transit is necessary for getting people out of personal motor vehicles, its
success in doing so, and indeed, the ability to curb rapid growth in motor
vehicle activity and its impacts, also depends on pricing motor vehicle use
at a level that will internalize its costs, discourage avoidable motor
vehicle trips, and provide incentives and funding for more sustainable
choices. In this regard, it is worth noting that the costs of operating
personal motor vehicles are so low, notwithstanding the recently increased
fuel prices (they are of the order of a rupee per kilometre on a two-wheeled
motor vehicle), and parking is so inexpensive even if not always readily
available, that no such incentives to avoid personal motorized trips, even
for the shortest distances, currently exist.
What we urgently need in order to effectively address our urban transport
challenge is an integrated approach that accounts for multiple urban
transport impacts (access loss, road safety, congestion, air pollution, and
energy consumption), caters for multiple modes and user groups that are
differentially affected by motorization, and is sensitive to the needs,
capabilities and constraints in the Indian context. Such an approach,
encompassing accessibility for all, including nonmotorized modes, quality
public transit, and pricing of personal motor vehicle use, along with
serious attention to land use-transport integration, would provide viable
alternatives for a range of road users, minimize the need for long distance
motorized trips, and curb rapid growth in motor vehicle activity by
restricting it to its highest value uses, which would in turn allow all
modes (including personal motor vehicles) to operate more efficiently,
enhance the effectiveness of mass transit, mitigate rapidly worsening urban
transport impacts, and promote social justice on our roads.
(The writer teaches in the School of Urban Planning and the McGill School of
Environment
at McGill University in Montreal, Canada)
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