If you ask people from any large Indian city what the worst issue they are facing is, I am sure ‘traffic’ will be the answer. Congestion, pollution, and road crashes have unfortunately become synonymous with urban life. We are widening roads to the extent possible, building flyovers where we can, and yet our cities reel under congestion in spite of all these measures.
Therefore, let us set aside the technicalities of transportation planning for a moment and use plain logic to examine this issue.
Are our ‘solutions’ the real problem?
Imagine someone who gorges on gulab jamuns, thinking they are healthy as they are made from milk, so contain protein. This will surely be bad for their health. You must have heard the concept of ‘cause and effect’. It is always at work even when we fail to understand the link between a cause and its effect. Just like a person’s health could be ruined by a falsified notion that gulab jamuns are healthy, our cities’ health is being ruined because the ‘solutions’ we are implementing to solve our transportation issues are also unhealthy.
We have tried some ‘solutions’, and we find that our cities are being ruined. Aren’t these solutions the real problem then?
We widen roads, build flyovers and elevated roads, provide cheap parking, and build parking structures. This makes it easier to use a personal motor vehicle, but only temporarily. The result? Our cities are clogged with cars and two-wheelers, the air stinks from their exhaust, and road crash fatalities are increasing. The link between the real cause and its effect is very clear!
What is the solution, then? Let us sit back and think afresh about some non-negotiable qualities for our city.
Inclusivity is non-negotiable
Any person, irrespective of gender, age, financial and physical ability must be able to go anywhere in the city, conveniently and independently. A focus on personal motor vehicles caters mostly to men between ages 18-70 who are financially well off and are able to handle a vehicle. This approach doesn’t work for many. Many women as well as seniors are reluctant to drive, school children do not have a licence, not everyone can afford to use a personal vehicle, and the physically challenged simply cannot use one independently.
The approach we should take is – if women, 8-year-olds, 80-year-olds, the poor, and the physically challenged can move around safely and conveniently, everyone else can. A high-quality public bus that does not get stuck in a sea of cars and scooters is inclusive, and therefore non-negotiable.
Sustainability is non-negotiable
Cars, and even two-wheelers, emit more pollutants per person per km, while also consuming much more road space than public transport. A city with today’s congestion and pollution levels is simply not sustainable. Students like to cycle to school and cycles don’t pollute. Many daily wage workers cannot afford a bus and prefer to cycle. Buses and cycles can reduce our city’s congestion and pollution, so a sustainable city must make them convenient and safe.
Safety is non-negotiable
Cyclists don’t kill people, so we must prioritise them for road space. Yes, buses can kill, but one bus with 50 people replaces 30 personal vehicles on roads. This reduces what is called ‘vehicle kilometres travelled’, in turn reducing road crashes. If that bus is given a dedicated lane so that cars and two-wheelers won’t interfere with it, it can make cities even safer. We must reduce vehicle kilometres travelled, and create cycle tracks and bus lanes on priority.
Walk-bus-cycle, not cars-two wheelers
Transportation based on ‘walk-bus-cycle’ can address all the issues we are facing. As a bonus, it also costs much less to build the infrastructure needed for these modes. Yes, the metro is good, but it is phenomenally expensive to build and can be effective only when a city’s ‘walk-bus-cycle’ base is strong. And while we encourage ‘walk-bus-cycle’, we must simultaneously discourage using cars and two-wheelers. Give people some tasty salad, but also make gulab jamuns even more expensive and difficult to access.
Let us reimagine our city – where it is safe to walk and cycle. Where a bus can take you everywhere, conveniently and quickly. Where ‘walk-bus-cycle’ is a staple food and the metro is the icing on the cake. Where our transport planners discourage personal motor vehicles, and their motto is, ‘Tell me why you can’t walk or use public transportation or cycle, and I am here to solve your problems!’
Harshad Abhyankar is the Director of the Save Pune Traffic Movement
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