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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.

Read the rest of the article

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With oil prices hovering around $135 a barrel, many Americans are feeling uneasy about the future. And for good reason; higher prices at the pump channel money away from things like health care, education, and leisure activities that improve our quality of life.

But there’s an upside – during hard times Americans are pushed to innovate and come up with new systems for solving the problems that face them. Below are three solutions to the problem of skyrocketing fuel prices. If implemented, they will have the added value of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, improving public health, and curtailing over-consumption:

1. Build high-density, mixed-use cities - The vast majority of American cities are built for cars, creating what urban planners call sprawl, low-density areas where people spend too much time and money driving to conduct their daily activity. Cities built around people and walking as opposed to cars and driving have things like single family housing, apartments, grocery stories, office space and retail all within walking distance, eliminating the daily need to get behind the wheel. The rise of New Urbanism in places like Kentlands, Maryland, and the revitalization of American inner cities in places like Chicago, New York, and Washington DC suggests that more and more Americans want a lifestyle that favors short walking trips over long car commutes.
2. Invest in Mass Transit - Americans are flocking to mass transit in ever greater numbers. At 10.3 billion trips last year, mass transit ridership in the United States is at its highest level since 1957. To match this growing demand, cities should invest money to maintain and expand their mass transit systems. One practical way to do this is to charge car drivers for using the most congested roads and use this revenue to fund mass transit projects. London, Singapore, and Stockholm all have congestion pricing programs which have been wildly successful and, counter to conventional wisdom, popular among residents.
3. Invest in Cycling Facilities – Increasingly cycling is becoming popular among commuters making short trips around cities. But the spike in the number of city cyclists has yet to be followed by a supply of cycling facilities like bike lanes and bike parking. In many cities cyclists have to compete with cars for road space, a dangerous proposition that drives potential cyclists off their bikes and back into cars. By building special cycle lanes that are physically separated from traffic, cities can make cycling a viable, low-cost form of transit. Cycling can also be instrumental in countering chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity, which are now afflicting large swaths of the sedentary American population. Paris, among other cities, has taken cycling a step above the rest, creating a bike sharing program with 15,000 bicycles available at a moments notice for anyone with a credit card. American cities should take note.

So far, the response from politicians on Capitol Hill has been anything but inspiring. Many politicians have disingenuously claimed that we don’t need to change our behavior and can “drill our way out of this problem.” Or that we can apply enough pressure on oil-rich countries, who will then turn against their own self-interests and ramp up production. Or that high fuel standards and alternative fuels like ethanol, which just suffered a huge setback with the Iowa floods, will make all our problems go away.

But in one corner of Washington there seem to be a few people in touch with the rest of Americans who are now bearing the brunt of rising fuel costs. On Capitol Hill, Earl Blumenauer, a Democratic Congressman from Portland, recently spoke out because he couldn’t find a parking spot in the garage of the Rayburn House of Representatives office building. So many Hill staffers now cycle to work that Mr. Blumenauer, for the first time ever, couldn’t find a space on the bike rack to lock his road bike.

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Above is an interactive map highlighting many of the BRT systems currently in operation or under construction in Latin America. As you can see, this efficient, cost-effective approach to transportation management is quickly becoming a standard across the region. And while Latin America cities have been BRT pioneers, the technology is catching on around the world.

Stay tuned for more detailed info on BRT systems in Central and South America, as well as the rest of the world.

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A very interesting study released earlier this month counters conventional wisdom, suggesting that a clear majority of people support tolling and road pricing. As the authors of the study, which analyzed numerous national and international public opinion surveys, clearly write in the conclusion of their report, “…in the aggregate, the public supports tolling and road pricing.”

The study’s findings will come as a surprise to many policy makers and elected officials who offer the standard response that tolling and road pricing are unpopular, and should therefore not be implemented lest they defy their constituents.

Traditionally, attempts to solve congestion have focused on building new roads or widening existing ones. But it’s clear that the strategy has not worked. That’s in large part because there’s a cyclical logic to road construction: as more roads are built more people want to drive cars, which in turn, drives the demand for ever more road construction. For decades now, there have been proposals for reducing the demand for road space by charging drivers who use it. But these proposals more often than not went nowhere in large part because of politics.

One of the more important conclusions of the study is that the public needs to be informed about any road pricing project. That is to say that the value of the project needs to be clearly articulated, past examples of successful pricing projects need to be held up, and the governments use of revenue generated from the tolls needs to be justified. In the case of New York City congestion pricing scheme, one that ultimately failed for political reasons, the revenue from pricing was earmarked to fund mass transit projects.

Overall, the study provides interesting insights, and good empirical evidence and arguments to further promote demand management schemes, such as tolling and congestion charging. We already know that road pricing can reduce congestion, pollution, auto accidents and global warming, while providing funding for efficient, clean and cool alternatives: walking, biking and public transport. We now know that, with the right information, people will make the right choices. For me, the clear lesson is that “you better inform and then ask the people”.

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I recently traveled to Santiago, Chile for the World Bank to assess the current state of “Transantiago” - the city’s ambitious and highly controversial transport reform project launched in February 2007. I was pleasantly surprised to find substantial improvements in the system, which was made infamous by its highly-publicized growing pains (for more info, check out an article that I contributed to in The Economist that covers the political fallout from the project).

The photo essay above contains photos of Transantiago I took on my trip. I hope it will provide readers with a closer look at the improving transport situation in the Chilean capital. To see a brief caption for each image, simply click on the photo.

For more info:
- Read more about my World Bank-sponsored assessment mission.
- Watch a short video I took of a Transantiago bus in action.

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The BBC has run a piece by Dermot Finch, the director of Centre for Cities, which argues that UK cities have a lot to teach their Trans-Atlantic neighbors on subjects such as suburban sprawl and traffic. Finch’s argument is broken into four categories:

• Tackling Gridlock
• Keeping Town and City Centers Alive
• How to Beat Suburban Sprawl
• Lavishing Attention on Cities

Of course one of Finch’s main points is about congestion charging, which has boosted revenue for mass transit by 125 million pounds.

To read more than the BBC article, check out this study done with the Brookings Institute.

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A few months ago here on TheCityFix.com I posted a video offering a “driver’s eye view” of Istanbul’s new BRT system – Metrobus. Today I thought I would show a similar clip (see above) that I took of Transantiago’s new dedicated bus lanes. The video should give you a first-hand look of how another innovative (though controversial) urban transport project operates.

Watching the short film, you can clearly see that the central four lanes of this busy thoroughfare are restricted to bus traffic. Private cars and other vehicles are kept to the outside lanes of the street, and separated from the busway by a fence and a freshly-planted row of trees (which will eventually green up this admittedly drab route). Bus stops are located in the middle of this divider, keeping buses and bus passengers completely isolated from car traffic.

Stay tuned for a photo essay on Transantiago’s efforts to overcome the logistical chaos and political turmoil that dominated its launch.

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