Articles by Dinesh Mohan

There has been much firefighting in Delhi in the name of clean air, but very little effort in understanding the causes of air pollution. So while we know that urban air pollution poses serious health risks to people living in Indian cities, we do not have a consensus on the details regarding the sources of the pollutants. This is mainly because central and local governments have not invested in setting up and funding an adequate number of research groups in academic institutions to conduct detailed studies around the country. Such neglect leads to knee-jerk reactions like the odd-even scheme.

Seven years after the National Urban Transport Policy was announced by the central government, the problems identified in it remain the same, or have worsened. Land use planning has not enabled the lower-income groups to live closer to work, road use is more dominated by private vehicles, and there is little money to improve facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists. This paper notes that though much of the basic data on urban transport in India is unreliable, there is enough to show that the challenge is to keep the share of non-personal transport at 70% as incomes increase in our cities. For this, walking and bicycling have to be made safer and public transport more attractive by making it readily available.

There is still no clear vision among planners, policymakers and transport experts about what will make Indian cities better places to live in as far as mobility and access are concerned. The prevailing mythology is that construction of metro rail systems will somehow solve the problems of the future. A review of urban mass transport systems over the past century shows that metro systems were the obvious choice when relatively inexpensive cars and two-wheelers were not available. With the introduction of efficient buses, computer and information technologies to manage large fleets, and the need to have flexible, medium capacity systems that go close to homes and destinations, bus rapid transit systems with dedicated lanes seem to be the only choice for providing affordable mass transport in our cities.

Increasingly the poor are being pushed to the edges of 'illegality' and 'invisibility'. Nothing describes this better than the plight of the auto-rickshaw drivers of Delhi who are facing a concerted attack by the administration and the media for their supposed 'venality'. Findings of a study undertaken to get a better understanding of the perspectives of both the commuter and the auto-rickshaw driver and to move towards policies that will benefit both parties.

While discussing issues concerning public transport, safety and the environment, this paper illustrates that unless the needs of non-motorised modes of traffic are met, it will be almost impossible to design any sustainable transport system for urban areas. If the infrastructure design does not meet the requirements of pedestrians, bicyclists and non-motorised rickshaws, all modes of transport operate in sub-optimal conditions. However, re-designing existing roads will not only provide a safer and convenient environment for non-motorised modes, it will also improve efficiency of public transport vehicles and enhance the capacity of the corridor when measured in number of passengers transported per hour per lane.