A Delhi Busways station. Photo by Madhav Pai.

By Dario Hidalgo and Madhav Pai. Originally published on IndiaTogether.com
Compared to other bus corridors world-wide, the Delhi effort is a very limited one. The current design is only a busway, and the government must push forward to build a full-fledged Bus Rapid Transit system, say Dario Hidalgo and Madhav Pai.

Policies that give priority to public transport, people-powered vehicles and pedestrians are always very positive. The Delhi Busway pilot project - which is generally referred to as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) - does all of the above, and hence it should be recognised as a progressive undertaking.

Conceptually, it has a profound sense of equity, as most of the road users in Delhi are walking, biking or riding public transportation vehicles, while the minority - who are rich but influential - are in private motor vehicles. According to data compiled for the Urban Age project, Delhi has less than 5 per cent of its population moving around in cars, 15 per cent in motorbikes and other vehicles, 39 per cent walking and biking and 42 per cent in buses. These statistics alone make a case that the constrained space of urban roads should be allocated in a way that benefits the majority of users.

Beyond equity considerations, space allocation to the most efficient modes of transport also has important sustainability impacts. The resulting financial burden to society as a whole is much lower, and expensive energy sources are used less. Also, emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide as well as toxic substances are lowered, with benefits on the public health front, as well as in the fight against global warming. And overall, less time is consumed in transportation.

These real benefits possibly explain why, in spite of the problematic launch of the busway, and the extremely negative media coverage of it immediately thereafter, the majority of the public still favours the project. Independent commuter surveys conducted by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and NDTV found that bus commuters overwhelmingly support the Delhi Busway. For some, the result may be surprising given the operational glitches and the media blitz declaring the bus corridor a disaster. While there are several things about the pilot project that should be improved, it would be both a strategic and political mistake to scrap it. The outpouring of public support for the new bus corridor by the majority of its users should be heeded. Lessons from the various difficulties encountered so far, and also from the experience of other similar projects elsewhere in the world should be considered and implemented.

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An independent commuter survey conducted by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment found that commuters overwhelmingly support the new BRT system in Delhi. For some, the result may be surprising after the initial operational glitches and media blitz declaring the new bus corridor a disaster. While there are several things that should be improved with the new system, as with any project, the outpouring of support for the new bus corridor suggests that it would be both a strategic and political mistake to scrap the project.

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Tathagata Chatterji, an architect and urban planner from Delhi, had a few interesting things to say today about Bus Rapid Transit in India. A few exerts follow:

The context:

The experimental Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Delhi, which reserves a portion of the road space to facilitate fast movement of high capacity buses and prioritises public transport over private, has been facing a barrage of vitriolic media criticism ever since its inception.

Stepping back for a little perspective:

But before we apply permanent brakes — under political and media pressure — on a system which has succeeded in several big cities across the world, we need to pause, reflect and learn the appropriate lessons.

It doesn’t make sense to prioritize street space for cars:

Cars occupy 75 per cent of road space but are used by less than 15 per cent of the populace even in the most affluent Indian cities. In contrast, buses occupy a mere 8 per cent of the road area but are used by almost 20 to 60 per cent of the people. Pedestrians and cyclists constitute an overwhelming 40 to 75 per cent of commuters but are completely marginalised in our planning system as a major part of budget allocations is consumed for road widening or flyover building, which primarily benefit cars and two wheelers.

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At least some people bike in Delhi. Photo by indoloony.

“Once you see the dedicated cycling tracks coming up, you’ll see a very big crowd of people taking to their bikes.” That’s a quote from Nalin Sinha, a leading member of Delhi’s Cycling Club, a group founded in 2006 to raise awareness about the benefits of cycling.

You can join the group by clicking here.

Earlier this year, Chris Morris from the BBC had a chance to catch up with Nalin and take a ride on Delhi’s cycle-hostile streets. His conclusion: “Delhi’s roads are no place for the faint-hearted cyclist.”

Click here to read the BBC article.

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This last week Delhi began a trial run for its first bus rapid transit corridor, a 5.8 kilometer stretch in the southern part of the city. To put it mildly, the start has been anything but stellar: a Google News search for “brt delhi” comes up with over 70 news articles from the last week, almost all of them sensationally pessimistic. Here are a few of the headlines: BRT nightmare for school kids on way home, Kids bear the brunt of BRT mess, Delhi bus corridor: Fiasco continues, BRT corridor chaos worse than ever.

From what I’ve heard from our experts in Mumbai, the project has had several hiccups like lack of signage, signal systems not working properly, bus breakdowns, and motorcycles and bicycles entering the bus lanes. But overall these are problems that can be fixed with time and bus operations can be improved.

What seems to be a bigger problem than the hitches and hiccups of the system itself is the destructive roll that the media has played, unfairly skewing the coverage of the trial run to make the problem seem worse than it actually is.

In the video below, for example, you can see footage of cars, rickshaws and motorbikes snared in traffic alongside the bus lane. What you can also see, however, is that in every shot with a passing bus, the bus is jammed packed with people. It’s a clear indication that the system is popular among people who are using it.

Headlines Today on Delhi BRT from EMBARQ Network on Vimeo.

When you watch the news footage though, you will notice that the journalist never interviews a single bus passenger to see what their satisfaction is with the system. All they show is disgruntled car owners who fume about what the bus rapid transit corridor has done to car traffic. Read the rest of this entry »

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Photo by brewingluminous from Flickr.

A New Delhi based research group, Centre for Science and Environment, has warned that air pollution is reaching critical levels in India’s capital city, threatening the health and wellbeing of the nearly 14 million people who call Delhi home. According to the Center, after 2002, air pollution had been falling as a result of an aggressive effort by the government to clean the air. The improvements, however, have not lasted in large part because ownership of personal vehicles has skyrocketed. According to the Center, Delhi adds a whopping 963 new personal vehicles on its roads each day! The answer to the growing problem, the Center argues, “is a massive initiative to increase public transport…along with steps to restrain the growth of private vehicles.” This will be tough, especially with the debut of super cheap cars in 2008, which more and more people from India’s burgeoning middle class will be able to afford. Why is air pollution such a big deal? The most recent numbers available are extremely upsetting: in 1995, Delhi had 9859 premature deaths related to air pollution. The rates of hospital admissions for illness related to air pollution are also staggering: in 1995 Delhi and Kolkata had a combined 5 million hospital admissions. What’s more, it’s a quality of life issue: who wants to live in cities where clean blue skies are blurred out by noxious brown clouds?

See what the New York Times has to say, here.

Check out Centre for Science and Environment’s presentation, here.

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On March 30, Monica Bansal, a graduate student at Colombia University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation visited EMBARQ’s offices and presented her research on Delhi’s auto-rickshaws. These three-wheeled vehicles carry thousands of city residents each day, providing an alternative to private car trips and an important source of jobs in the region.

Unfortunately, auto-rickshaws are also major polluters. In Kolkata, for example, auto-rickshaws comprise 5% of the fleet, but an estimated 35% percent of vehicle-related pollution.

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