Public transport system calls for a new roadmap

As the district gears up to observe yet another edition of Bus Day on Thursday, debate is on as to how far these ritualistic observations go in promoting the public transport system and making it popular among the travelling public.

Experts feel that the need of the hour is a comprehensive and scientific overhauling of the public transport structure to decongest city roads that court thousands of new vehicles every day.

D. Dhanuraj, chairman, Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), says it is this realisation that prompted his agency, which originally mooted the idea of Bus Day, to back out of the project after being part of it in 2011-12.

BUS ROUTES

“The bus routes in the district were fixed about two decades back, after which there has never been a comprehensive plan to rationalize the routes despite the city and its suburbs undergoing a sea change. There are places such as Panamppilly Nagar in the heart of the city, which have grown into major residential and business centres over the years but are still left untouched by buses,” he says.

Mr. Dhanuraj says the inability to map the mobility features of passengers remains the fundamental flaw in the city’s transport management plans. There is no database on key aspects such as the busiest route, the timing of passenger movement and the connectivity or the lack of it between the bus routes and destinations of passengers, which remains at the heart of restructuring the public transport system.

“Our buses are not that bad as they are made out to be. But they are simply proving unhelpful in taking passengers to their destinations. Public transport, after all, is all about ferrying people to destinations of their choice and when it fails to do so obviously they look for other options,” Mr. Dhanuraj says.

MOTOR VEHICLES ACT

A senior officer of the Motor Vehicles Department says the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and a nationalisation scheme notified by the government in May 2006 effectively ruled out any rational restructuring of bus routes.

Before the advent of the Act, Road Transport Authorities (RTAs) had considerable power and they formulated the routes that often reflected the public demand. Bus operators were given permits based on merit to operate in those routes.

“The Act heralded what was regarded a liberalised scheme whereby the RTAs were cut to size and obliged to issue permit in whichever route the operator applied for as long as it was not in conflict with the nationalised routes. This effectively threw passenger necessity out of the window while reducing the public transport system to pockets which the operators found most lucrative,” he says.

The nationalisation scheme notified in 2006, on the other hand, made issue of new permits almost impossible. For instance, if an operator applies for a permit in the Aluva-Panamppilly Nagar route today, it will be denied as only the KSRTC is allowed to operate such a service.

Dejo Kappen of the Centre for ConsumerPublic transport system calls for a new roadmap Education says cosmetic measures such as the observation of Bus Day will not promote public transport system unless the necessary infrastructure is strengthened. “Even the buses rolled out by the Union government as part of decongesting the roads in metropolitan cities are being deployed by the KSRTC for long-distance services. This defeated the very purpose of their allocation, which was to transport people en bloc working under the same roof such as IT Parks thus discouraging them from using their own vehicles,” he says.

PRIVATE VEHICLES

Mr. Kappen says seven out of ten private vehicles they observed at Vyttila as part of a study a few years ago had single passengers. While two SUVs take up the space of a bus, they more often that not carry just two passengers as against an average of 30 passengers a bus transports.

He also recommends an entry tax for private vehicles entering the city akin to what is being practiced in Coimbatore city. This will definitely be a positive incentive for choosing public transport over private vehicles, Mr. Kappen says.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/public-transport-system-calls-for-a-new-roadmap/article5065099.ece

Delhi Metro Experience - Recent ones

by D. Dhanuraj

It has been so fascinating to travel in Delhi metro when it was inaugurated. I never missed a chance whenever I was in Delhi. I used every opportunity to understand the mobility features of the commuters; type and age of them, class and community of them etc. I was fortunate enough to be the part of a kind and obedient  commuting population whenever the Metro broke the previous records of volume transportation both in 2011 or in 2013. I experienced the changing style of commuting population, increasing demand from the commuters side etc. In the last two weeks, I was in Delhi and on Metro again.

It was on July 1st I arrived in Delhi. I arrived in T1 terminal of Airport. Coming out of the terminal, I was told that there is a Metro pick up so i decided to experience the journey again. Then I realised that DMRC has taken over Airport Express Line from that day onwards. I paid Rs 120 for the ticket till Sivaji Stadium. I was asked to wait as there is a feeder system to pick the commuters to the nearby Aero City Metro Station. A few of us waited for another 10 minutes then the bus came. It was a small us not suited to the airport pick ups. I was lucky for I did not have too many luggage but many others in the que struggled. The bus attenders were no so friendly. We are told that there is an additional Rs 20 to pay for their service. Some of the passengers shouted at this. I wonder why cant they include this ticket fare in the metro charges when everybody talks about the single card system for commuting on various modes of transport. Anyways, they waited for another 10 more minutes to start from T1. Remember, there is a Metro service in every 15 minutes.

When they dropped us at Aero city Station, I found out that they have parked at a distance and there is no smooth sailing for luggage trolleys.  Many struggled to keep the bags on their shoulders. Entering the train, I found out only a handful of people opted for Airport Express even at the peak morning hours. I am sure the feeders and smoothness of interchange stop many from entering Airport Express. Even in T3 (last week experience), the connectivity between Metro terminal and T3 is at a quite a walkable distance. Same is the case with dingy conditions prevailing on the emergence from New Delhi Airport Express Metro Station. One may end up paying Rs 150 for an Auto for 3 Kms where as Metro as such demands only Rs 150 from T3 to New Delhi station.

I am sure these are learnings for other Metro projects ongoing in other parts of the country.

Mobility Hub and the second phase

by D. Dhanuraj

The second phase of the Mobility Hub construction will go for pre qualification tender in the coming days. It seems that dexterous planning has been gone into the designing of the second phase. As expected, the mobility hub is expected to be the meeting point of different modes of transportation. Metro station is planned inside the Hub infrastructure while city buses, Mofussil buses and long terms buses have dedicated bays in the mobility hub. Feeders like autos, taxis will have the provisions at the hub while the boat jetty is planned to connect other parts of the city. Like in an airport, private vehicles will be able to drop commuters at the bay.

Given the real estate value and the location of the mobility hub site, the estimated cost of 400 Crores for the construction of the second phase needs diligent planning and execution. As the media reports, one will wonder what is the productivity and outcome expected from such an investment? How would the State justify such an investment for such a mobility plan? Here the larger vision matters.

1. The infrastructure should prioritize the mobility as the key feature. Everything shall be built around the  mobility aspect (of society) and not the other way round.
2. With the second phase of Mobility Hub in running, this could become the CBD of new Cochin. The stake holders especially Mobility Hub society, city corporation and GCDA should sit around and discuss the future plans.
3. The entire mobility of the region as well as that of immediate neighbourhood shall get aligned with the Mobility hub plans without disturbing the social mobility features of the ongoing crowd.
4. Like in many other cities, the stake holders can plan regulation of the public transport in the region by setting up UMTA. Present private and KSRTC operations can be grouped into fleet services under the HUB management without retaining the ownership intact as it is now.
5. Better utilisation of 25 acres of land is the key. Why can't mobility Hub attract medium level investments leading to transit orient development in the location?
6. Prepare a regional master plan for New Cochin as HUB as the fulcrum for the developments for the future. 
7. Integration of HUB with rest of the State as important as the integration with the city.
8. Have modeling exercises to find out the cut off number of non-travellers to HUB premises. This will help to build the shopping area, multiplexes and jogging stretches. otherwise, they may crowd the mobility hub leaving little space for the priority users.
9. Innovate on the parking fees and differential pricing for the different users like commuters for public transport, those who come for shopping etc. ideally, even though parking space is provided, number of vehicles parked in the HUB premises should be smaller number in the long term with the improvement in public transport systems in the city which is mandated by HUB operations.
10. Maintain a R&D lab to map the social mobility of the users in the region. Accordingly, routing and efficacy of the mobility hub operations and the proposed New Cochin township can be augmented.

I am sure the authorities would have looked at these aspects before the phase plans are finalised. Given the location and valuation of the property, Mobility Hub society should be able to finance its operations themselves and should not run to Trivandrum for allocation of funds to sustain the operations. If that is the case, it has failed in its enterprise..