[sustran] Re: Mumbai Metro Proposal

[Regina_Therese_MANZO at ura.gov.sg]

Probably all of the transport suggestions for Mumbai have been assessed at 
some point for; the issue in their implementation, or not, is political 
will (not peculiar to Mumbai). 

Upgrading the commuter rail service - increasing train speed, reducing 
headways, extending the number of bogies per train - is hampered by 
dwellings constructed very close to tracks preventing higher speeds, and 
by difficulties in extending station length (due to land acquisition 
problems, slum dwellings, etc.) to accommodate longer trains.  The issue 
of slum dwellers and their living options is intimately tied up with 
transport improvements in Mumbai. 

Similarly, for BRT or other bus-related improvements, road space is often 
taken up by hawker stalls and other unauthorised uses, so the equity issue 
also comes up in considering their removal. 

None of the blocks to the transport improvements is impossible to solve; 
but there are significant equity issues associated with all possible 
solutions, and lack of movement on the part of the government to address 
them. 

Besides technical assistance, it seems the Mumbai sustainable transport 
issue really needs assistance in terms of the soft aspects; educating 
public decision-makers, educating and gaining support from the public 
especially the growing middle-class that is buying more Marutis and Hondas 
and now the SUV-type vehicles, etc. 

Kisan, you must be in touch with Sheela Patel of SPARC; I've cc'd her on 
this. 

Is anyone involved with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign or the 
Straphangers Campaign in New York? Or other similar efforts?  Perhaps 
these organizations could offer some synergies:   http://www.tstc.org/ , 
http://www.straphangers.org/ 

It is a pity to see how the transportation system is evolving in Mumbai. 
Mere koh bahut dukh lagte hai. 

Sadly,
Gina Manzo

Regina Manzo, AICP „X Urban Redevelopment Authority „X 45 Maxwell Road „X 
URA Centre „X Singapore 069118 „X? ph +65 6321-8305 „X
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"Eric Bruun" <ericbruun at earthlink.net>
Sent by: 
sustran-discuss-bounces+regina_therese_manzo=ura.gov.sg at list.jca.apc.org
11/02/2004 02:38
Please respond to Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport

 
        To:     "Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport" 
<sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>, "sustran discuss" 
<sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
        cc:     kush at kward.org, Ajit Shenoy <ajitshenoy at now-india.net.in>, Sudhir B Badami 
<badami at vsnl.com>
        Subject:        [sustran] Re: Mumbai Metro Proposal

Kisan
 
Underground Metro is the solution to reserve for the very densest parts of 
the city where it is unrealistic to try to take right-of-way above ground. 
It is, of course, expensive and takes lots of time. 
 
In the meantime, look at BRT where the roadways are wide enough and queue 
bypasses where they are not. Also, look at upgrading the commuter rail 
service. It might be adaptable to higher levels of safety and performance, 
providing rapid transit at a fraction of the cost.
 
Eric Bruun
 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kisan Mehta 
To: sustran discuss 
Cc: kush at kward.org ; Ajit Shenoy ; Sudhir B Badami 
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 7:32 AM
Subject: [sustran] Mumbai Metro Proposal

Dear Colleagues,
 
Mumbai (area 434 sq km and population 11.91 million-Census of India 2001) 
has highly overstrained transport facilities. Sealocked 
on three sides, Mumbai presents a unique geographical entity with average 
population density of 27,000 persons per sq km, unheard 
of anywhere elsein the world. 
 
Though suburban railway services started in the the Nineteenthirties and 
road transport are publicly owned, there has been little development on 
the demand management pricniple.  Trains running  at about five timesand 
buses at three times the normal carrying capacity look fater 88% of roral 
journeys. Personal cars receive 
higher priotity causing serious bottelnecks for public transport . 
With average 20 and 10 residents dieing daily on the railway 
tracks and roads, Mumbai ranks amongst human centres having 
high accident rate in the world.  The World Bank report says that 
pedestrians form 95% of accidents on Mumbai roads.  Paradoxically the Bank 
loan has 85% for construction of highways while suburban railways 43%. The 
amount loaned to public road services forms 
2.5% of the total  project cost. 
 
Mumbai does not have metro railway service. The government 
owned Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has put up 
a proposal for Mumbai Metro comprising of  32.5 lm of underground and 114 
km length of elevated railway 
facility to be completed in stages by early twenties. 
 
You are closely associatred with public transport and especially 
in metro services as well as in urban planning and development. 
We are trying to work out a citizen susbtainable alternative that 
can meet citizen expectations and is affordable to the less 
fortunate of our citizens.   We appeal to you to take interest in 
the umbai Metro proposals and make valuable suggestions so 
that Mumbai has the most preferred system.   We hope to get complete info 
from the authorites in a couple of days which we 
can share with those of you interested in the proposal.   Best wishes.
 
Kisan Mehta
Save Bombay Committee
620 Jame Jamshed Road, Dadar East,
Mumbai 400014 
Tel: 00 91 22 2414 9688 


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