[sustran] Re: Traffic Congestion in Bangalore

Ethan Arpi EArpi at wri.org
Thu Mar 20 01:10:22 JST 2008


Sudhir wrote a nice piece for TheCityFix.com on this topic which was
just published.  It also includes powerful images to help those of us
not India visualize the problem.  You can find his article here:
http://thecityfix.com/behind-bangalores-growth-a-new-species-is-born-tra
nsport-challenged-people/



Ethan A. Arpi | Communications Coordinator
EMBARQ | The WRI Center for Sustainable Transport
10 G Street NE, Suite 800 | Washington DC, 20002
ph | (202) 729-7721 
website | embarq.wri.org 
blog | TheCityFix.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Schipper
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:06 PM
To: Todd Alexander Litman; Sudhir; Sustran Resource Centre; Global
'South' Sustainable Transport; cai-asia at lists.worldbank.org; Ethan Arpi;
Benoit Lefevre
Subject: RE: [sustran] Re: Traffic Congestion in Bangalore

Having walked in many parts of Bangalore (and Pune) where there are
cars, two wheelers, but no sidewalks, I think Todd is more than right
and Sudhir thanks for pointing out this crazy situation.

I am including Benoit Lefevre in this conversation as he has just
written a very intersting phd that included modelling alternatives for
Bangalore..

Lee Schipper
EMBARQ Fellow
EMBARQ, the WRI Center for Sustainable Transport www.embarq.wri.org and
Visiting Scholar UC Transportation Center Berkeley CA USA www.uctc.net
skype: mrmeter
+1 510 642 6889
Cell +1 202 262 7476


-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org] On
Behalf Of Todd Alexander Litman
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:16 AM
To: Sudhir; Sustran Resource Centre; Global 'South' Sustainable
Transport; cai-asia at lists.worldbank.org; Ethan Arpi
Subject: [sustran] Re: Traffic Congestion in Bangalore


That is very unfortunate. For a variety of reasons, non-motorized
transport tends to be undercounted and undervalued in conventional
planning. As you point out, conventional planning tends to focus on
mobility rather than accessibility, and so favors longer-distant and
higher-speed travel over local, slower travel.
Most travel surveys significantly undercount non-motorized travel,
because they ignore short trips (those within a Traffic Analysis Zone),
non-commute trips, travel by children, recreational travel, and
non-motorized links of trips that involve a motorized mode (a
walk-bus-walk trip is usually coded simply as a "bus" trip, the walking
links are ignored even if they take more time than the motorized link).
See "Measuring Transportation: Traffic, Mobility and Accessibility"
(http://www.vtpi.org/measure.pdf ).

It will be important to educate decision-makers and the general public
of the economic, social and environmental benefits of creating a more
accessible and walkable community ("Economic Value of Walkability"
http://www.vtpi.org/walkability.pdf ). A good resource is the
"Sustainable Transportation: A Sourcebook for Policy-Makers in
Developing Countries," (<http://www.sutp.org/>www.sutp.org),
by the Sustainable Urban Transport Project - Asia
(<http://www.sutp-asia.org/>www.sutp-asia.org)
and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit
(<http://www.gtz.de/>www.gtz.de).
Users are required to register, but there is no charge and the documents
may be downloaded free.
Many of these documents are now available in various languages including
Spanish, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Romanian, Thai and Vietnamese.
"Preserving and Expanding the Role of Non-motorized Transport:
Sustainable Transportation" is available at the Institute for
Transportation and Development Policy website
(<http://www.itdp.org/STe/STe4/readSTe4/NMT.PDF>www.itdp.org/STe/STe4/re
adSTe4/NMT.PDF).


Best wishes,
-Todd Litman

At 10:03 PM 3/18/2008, Sudhir wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>Please find the news regarding the Traffic Congestion in Bangalore on
>Today's "Times of India"  Edition (link enclosed).
>It is very surprising that no one has mentioned footpaths, cycletracks,
>NMT etc.
>It is generally reported that people want and desire mobility. Is
>mobility more important than accessibility in an urban area?
>Bangalore has seen rapid motorisation in recent years (increase from
>178 to 361 within a decade) yet 39% of households does not own any
>vehicle.
>Average salary of a two wheeler owner is only Rs4469. ( it is to be
>noted that Bangalore has the highest petrol rate at 52Rs/L). Average
>Trip length is nearly 10.57 km.
>Thus an average two wheeler owner spends 22% of his salary on his
>Transportation.
>Bangalore has approximately 7 million population yet it has pedestrian
>trip rate of 0.07 (total daily pedestrian trips of 523597) or in other
>words thirteen persons contribute single pedestrian trip per day !!!!
>Nearly 30% of households have bicycles but yet contribute only 2% trip
>modeshare.
>Yesterday's edition carried an article indicating that the authorities
>are planning elevated inner core ring road at an estimated cost of 700
>million Rs. per KM.
>We have done some research on Pedestrian Infrastructure and our
>estimates indicate that complete pedestrian infrastructure (considering
>current nil infrastructure) can be improved with an investment of 2000
>million Rs, yet no concrete proposals.
>
>Link of Paper
>
>http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQkcvMjAwOC8wMy
>8xOSNBcjAwMTAx&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
>
>
>Regards
>Project Engineer,
>Highways Div.
>SECON Pvt Ltd.
>147, 7B Road, EPIP,
>Whitefield, Bangalore 560066
>Ph: 080-41197778 (413)
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>---------
>
>CAUSES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION
>
>
>Poor roads No. 1 cause of congestion: TOI survey
>
>
>
>TIMES NEWS NETWORK  - 19 march
>
>
>
>
>    Bangalore's traffic congestion is today the  bane of the city,
>affecting citizens' lives,  the growth of its business and contributing
>substantially to pollution. But why has traffic  become what it has?
>TOI asked citizens that  question. And this is what we got: Bad roads
>is  seen as the No. 1 reason for the traffic  problems, followed
>closely by poor traffic  management and lack of proper infrastructure
>like flyovers. Indisciplined drivers were seen  as another significant
>reason for the chaos.
>    The survey was conducted for TOI by global  market research agency
>Synovate. Almost 30% of  those surveyed pointed their fingers at bad
>roads - issues like the width of the road, potholes, poorly laid roads
>and medians, all of which slow down traffic significantly and
>contribute to traffic pile ups.
>    A quarter of those surveyed blamed poor  traffic management, issues
>like uncoordinated  traffic lights, inability to enforce lane or  speed
>discipline, inability to divert traffic  on to alternative roads in the
>event of a pile-up on one road.
>    Another quarter attributed the city's  traffic problem to
>inadequate infrastructure  like flyovers and pedestrian underpasses.
>Many  of the city's flyovers are badly designed, and  in some cases,
>the flyover merely contributes  to increasing the traffic pileup at a
>subsequent traffic junction. The outer ring  road desperately requires
>a series of flyovers  or underpasses, as Delhi has done, but the
>government is yet to move on that. The survey  also found that the vast
>majority believes the  Metro Rail can be an effective solution to the
>city's traffic woes. An overwhelming number  also believe that steep
>fines are the answer to  ensure people become better road users. Many
>think better buses and plusher buses can  encourage people to move to
>public transport.
>    Guess what rating those surveyed give the  city administration's
>efforts to improve the  traffic and connectivity situation: an average
>of a mere 3.23 on 10. No surprise!
>    unlock.bangalore at timesgroup.com
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>---------
>
>
>Regards
>Sudhir
>Project Engineer,
>Highways Div.
>SECON Pvt Ltd.
>147, 7B Road, EPIP,
>Whitefield, Bangalore 560066
>Ph: 080-41197778 (413)
>
>--------------------------------------------------------
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Sincerely,
Todd Alexander Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org) litman at vtpi.org Phone
& Fax 250-360-1560 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"

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SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
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