[sustran] Re: Mumbai Metro Proposal

[Craig Townsend]

Kisan,

In addition to the suggestions of Eric and Regina, there is a need to consider
land use changes and public transport/ non-motorized system integration in
assessing and shaping the proposed metro. The metro will increase accessibility
around stations and the value of land/rents will go up. It is important that the
Mumbai government (or other government authority) captures some of this added
value for public benefits. I assume that there is a lack of accurate property
valuation and taxation of land based on assessed value in Mumbai. If there were
property taxes based on accurately assessed market values, some of the
additional land values/rents would be captured by the government. However, in
the absence of those mechanisms, there would be possibilities for the public
sector to engage in partnerships with the private sector to develop land in ways
that maximize the public benefits accruing from the metro. In addition to land
development opportunities, there should be consideration of how the metro will
be integrated (in terms of physical connections, fares) with the other modes of
transport. These are issues that have been addressed in other places in the
past. Recommended reading includes: Derrick, Peter. 2001. "Tunneling to the
future : the story of the great subway expansion that saved New York". New York
: New York University Press.

Craig Townsend


Quoting 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                                            
>      |
> |         |                                                                  
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> |         |                                                                  
>      |
> |         |           11/02/2004 02:38                                       
>      |
> |         |           Please respond to Asia and the Pacific sustainable
> transport |
> |         |                                                                  
>      |
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>  
>
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>   |                                                                          
>                     |
>   |        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
> 
> 
>