From taxi apps to car sharing, from bus rapid transit (BRT) to the metro, from bike sharing to walking, today there are more transportation choices for commuting than ever before.
Transport of goods is also not far behind, what with channels such as road, air, rail, waterways and soon even drones. Increased access to transport and enhanced connectivity decreases travel time and generates higher rates of direct employment thereby elevating overall economic opportunity.
However, the increase in mobility options comes at a high price. The challenges associated with growing traffic, especially in cities, are threateningly insurmountable. And ironically, despite the wide range of ways to get around, there have never been so many people who lack access to mass public transportation or the means to use transportation.
Personal cars were a 20th century symbol of prosperity, but in the 21st century, they contribute to three pernicious trends: congestion, road accidents and pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable transport, as envisioned in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), is defined to constitute four elements: accessibility to all, safety and security, efficiency and reliability and being green, clean and resilient. Sustainable mobility means “satisfying the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability to satisfy the needs of future generations.”
Situation in Chennai
37 per cent of Chennai residents use public transport – bus, train and para transit. The Metro Rail when fully opened, would increase this by about 2 per cent. Chennai Comprehensive Transport Study envisages the share of public transport of 70 per cent by 2026. On a daily basis, the MTS bus services take in roughly 50 lakh passengers, the suburban railway (MRTS) caters to about 18.4 lakh, whilst the Metro Rail services take in merely 24,000 passengers. Chennai is need of about 360km stretch of mass rapid transit (suburban, mono and metro), whereas only 50 per cent of this requirement is currently being met.
A worrying trend as shown in the chart below is the increasing trend to use private transport – two and four wheelers.
The impact of the above trend is that 31 per cent of the commuters using two and four wheelers occupy 64 per cent of the road space, while city bus takes 23 per cent of commuters but occupies only about 10 per cent of the road space!
A comparative study of various cities around the world shows that Chennai lacks good quality public transport.
Chennai’s Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Policy
Chennai is among the few cities in India with a NMT policy.
The vision of this policy is:
Chennai will be a city with a general sense of well-being through the development of quality and dignified environment where people are free to walk and cycle; equitable allocation of public space and infrastructure and access to opportunities and mobility for all residents.
Goals of this NMT policy
• a minimum of 60 per cent of the Corporation’s transport budget is allocated to construct and maintain NMT infrastructure
• by 2018, build safe and continuous footpaths on at least 80 per cent of all streets,
• increase the share of walking and cycling trips to over 40 per cent and,
• most significantly, eliminate pedestrian and cyclist deaths
