High court bans road side parking of Auto rickshaws

by D Dhanuraj

Recent ban on the auto rickshaw ban on the road sides by the Hon. High Court of Kerala evoked mixed reaction in me. While I respect the Court order for ensuring safety for the pedestrians, I am not sure why the Autos alone pay the price for the improper parking on the streets. From the media reports, I understand that the order is in response to the petition filed against the Autorickshaws for intruding into the space dedicated (?) for the pedestrians. Here comes my disagreement...

In most of the cases, operations of Autorickshaws are still at the mercy of the Government authorities. They are harassed by authorities for different reasons. But what one forgets is that they play a very important role in facilitating the Public transport system. They act as the feeder systems and bridge the gaps in the last mile connectivity. If Autos are allowed to operate as share autos, more comfort and cheaper rates can be offered to the public. While Autorickshaws have a major role to enliven the urban mobility, they are not given proper space and parking grounds in most of the cases. If the authorities had given them proper space and grounds for the autos, the above situation would not have arisen.

Same is the case with pedestrians. How many roads in our country have proper pedestrian facilities and infrastructure designs supporting them? Most of the times, pedestrian side walks and refuge islands are either missing or not well connected with the rest of the eco-system. I  wish the Court would have made it mandatory that the pedestrian oriented designs of standard procedures for any urban infrastructure projects.

Another important aspect is that of parking of private vehicles. Parking is a completely misunderstood concept in India. It is considered as a fundamental right of a car owner/driver to get parking ground at free of cost. Most of the Municipalities have taken the responsibility of providing the parking on their shoulders which kills the very essence of equity of distribution at the input stages of finding solutions to the problem of parking. Private vehicles are parked on the sides of the city roads obstructing the free movement of pedestrians. In my opinion, the auto rickshaw stands/parking grounds are limited particular locations in the city while private parking is omnipresent. The Hon High Court could have mentioned these aspects also (for me, it is important in this judgement otherwise the omissions and commissions will act as stand alones creating more problems) while delivering the judgement hearing the above petition.

A Plan called Non - Plan for Kochiates

by Dhanuraj. D

It looks so awkward when we do not forecast the possibilities and challenges that are very much possible within the existing framework. Here is a classic example of such a planned non plan; traffic congestion at LuLu Mall at Edappally. Since this construction for LuLu Mall started, it would have been anyone guess that thousands of footfalls expected in the mall on everyday basis would create traffic snarls and congestion around Edappalli Junction. It seems that authorities concerned neglected or ignored this possibility for many years until the mall got inaugurated. I would say such a sham to decision makers and visionary leadership (?) we have!

While the construction of the Mall was going on, the authorities could have initiated the steps to find the solutions to the traffic congestion that would be created by the Mall. In fact, I remember our suggestions (CPPRs) on a few occasions. We had suggested a hub and spoke model and transport grid organised from Edappally connecting Mobility Hub. In another meeting, we suggested to have the Edappally Metro station on one of the floors of Mall. Unfortunately these suggestions were not even heard by the authorities. There were suggestions offered by other groups as well. They were also turned down. From the authorities part, they did not do anything until the Mall got inaugurated.

I wonder how do we prosper to become the coveted Economic Power status when such incidents are so frequent in this country. It is something similar to demographic dividend prospects. Even though we knew that we could take advantages of having a younger population for a couple of decades, we are still planning for schools and how many schools we may require to tap this advantage.

I don't know why we don't learn from mistakes. Or is it because we lack scientific temperament? But one thing is clear and convincing. We are good at non - planning for the planned projects.

The Plan called Mobility Hub Vyttila

by D. Dhanuraj

I was not at all surprised by this reaction of the commuters in  the Mobility Hub premises but was rather excited by the fact that they reached out to the public and authorities in a very enterprising manner. What is Mobility Hub? that is a question that demands not the definitions but the comprehensiveness about the plans and processes in the ground. Mobility Hub is maximised for the meeting of different modes of transportation at a major place. They meet each other as the location ideally suits for the convergence and distribution of different transportation networks accordance to the mobility features of the commuting population. It should save energy, time and offer seamless flow of traffic using any of the modes available. These modes shall be readily available and the information regarding the same shall be easily obtained for the demanding passenger. In lesser time, one should be able to interchange the mode of transport (if required) to reach the final destination.  

In the past, whenever I traveled across the state of Kerala, I wondered how many bus stands each city or township has? At many places I found three. One of the reasons they have cited is that there requires two separate bus terminals for KSRTC and Private Buses. From an economic view point, I am curious why KSRTC owns hundreds of hectors of land for this purpose across the State. While KSRTC in loss making brackets, why cant they innovate on this owned properties. 

Same logic has been applied in the case of Vyttila Mobility Hub also. They have reasoned out to have separate bays keeping it separate from Private Bus operators'. It is sad to witness children, senior citizens along with the tired and exhausted floating population run between the bays to get on to buses at the peak times. Why can't KSRTC and private buses operate from the same bus bay for the same destination? I must ask this question to the authorities? whom are you serving in the Mobility Hub? aren't the commuting population  your clients and customers? Have we been defeated ourselves in defining the purpose and motive of Mobility Hub? 

Please provide access and accommodation to the commuters. No one has to loiter around to figure out the various services offered by the operators. If that is the case, why do we need a mobility hub? why can't we have the traditional bus stands in the city?