[sustran] Improvements needed in planning transport projects under JNNURM

[Vinay Baindur]

Improvements needed in planning transport projects under JNNURM
DNA / Tarun Sharma / Wednesday, August 17, 2011 12:00 IST

The key goal of transport projects under the National Urban Transport Policy
(NUTP) is “moving people not vehicles”. As transport projects receiving
assistance under JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission) are
required to confirm to NUTP, they need to be people-centric. This implies
investment priorities favouring public transport and non-motorised transport
(NMT).

To plan transport infrastructure, robust forecasts of the travel demand and
responses of travel demand to changes in the transport system
characteristics and parameters are needed.

Such robust forecasts in turn require reliable, consistent, timely and
appropriately disaggregated data which can then be analysed using various
transport planning and modelling techniques.

In general, data gaps could arise due to lack of collection efforts from the
agencies, or from insufficient appreciation of the importance of the
available data for planning process and decisions.

Even if there is existing data, the inability to maintain or utilise this in
the best way in policymaking constitutes a gap. Thus, a lot of existing data
which should be used for making policy decisions is either not utilised or
is utilised in inappropriate ways.

For transport planning, data concerning travel characteristics, preferences,
and behaviour (eg. responsiveness to price and income of a particular mode
of transport such as personal transport or public transport) are essential.

For Indian cities, planning for transport projects under JNNURM is severely
constrained by various data gaps. These gaps include spatial distribution of
job opportunities, disaggregated by gender, occupation, age etc;
home-workplace travel behaviour and preferences; shopping and leisure travel
patterns; freight related data; and a good quality mapping of existing
infrastructure.

Another major constraint concerns the approach used for planning transport
projects. The most common approach used is the trip-based approach, which
uses trips between two points to project travel demand, and treats separate
trips independently. This approach gives insufficient weight to individual’s
behaviour over space and time, and therefore to interdependence of trips.

A trip from home to office including a movie at the theatre can be completed
either by coming home first, and then a separate trip to the theatre, or by
going to the theatre directly from office, which of these modes is used may
depend on several variables, including options for public transit, parking
charges, etc.

Recognising such interdependence is essential when the goal of transport
policy is to move individuals. Complex behavioural responses of individuals
to demand management policies cannot be properly modelled by focusing on
individual trips.

The main limitations of the current methods (and models) to project
transport demand and JNNURM can be summarised as follows:

   - The models do not reflect people recalling some trips they undertook
   and many short trips that people forget. The models also don’t capture
   adequate information on the purpose and interdependence of trips and the
   factors impacting the demand and preference for travel.
   - The calibration of these models to fit the community or region is done
   by existing data such as population density and growth, occupational
   structure and household incomes. While trip-related and individual level
   data such as vehicle ownership, cost of travel and trip lengths are obtained
   by household surveys, most socio economic and demographic data comes from
   existing sources.
   - Occupational structure and population growth are based on decennial
   census which is not truly reflective of the recent changes in socio-economic
   and demographic profile of a region. As a result, significant data gaps
   arise. The dynamic nature of the Indian economic and social change, shifting
   geographical location of economic activities and consequent internal
   migration and rapid urbanisation and constraints in transport planning due
   to lack of recent data addthese gaps.
   - Data inadequacy is the lack of enough disaggregation in current
   household travel data for modelling separate market segments.
   - Origin-destination data on freight movement and private sector
   passenger transport is hardly available.
   - Household surveys do not sufficiently permit analysis of the impact of
   improvements in non-motorised transport on travel conditions.
   - For better transport planning, under the JNNURM, there are several
   measures designed to address data gaps and other limitations that merit
   consideration.
   - Questionnaire surveys and diaries, which are widely used
   internationally for collecting data required for transport planning, need to
   be used more widely. The frequency and choice of days for maintaining
   diaries should conform to standards that ensure minimal underreporting of
   trips and less respondent burden. Transport studies and data collection
   efforts should be used for generating socio-economic data which are recent
   and policy relevant.
   - Available technologies could be used more strategically and extensively
   for collecting travel flow and behaviour data on the roads for better
   accuracy and timeliness. GIS (geographic information system) techniques
   could be considered for collecting information on institutional and location
   characteristics such as opening hours and features of transport modes which
   impact on the choice of activities and travel.
   - Automated pedestrian counters can be a useful way for collecting
   pedestrian-related information for continuous and heterogeneous traffic.
   These counters will allow planners to collect accurate pedestrian flow data
   and pedestrian characteristics (age, gender mix, etc). Such data on
   pedestrian volumes and their behaviour can help in evaluating the impacts of
   investments in pedestrian infrastructure and modelling pedestrian flows.
   - The conventional modelling uses macro level aggregates of area
   locations for calculating trip generation and distribution. Use of GPS
   (global positioning system) technology to collect disaggregated data with
   spatial and temporal components could be useful for understanding travel
   behaviour and therefore transport planning.
   - l The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MSPI) has
   suggested that to improve freight data collection more coordinated approach
   to log books of the truck operators and to various check-posts are to be
   considered. Regular updating of databases on transport
   infrastructure/facilities in urban areas is also needed
   - Urgency needs to be exhibited in establishing and in the smooth
   functioning of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities. It can help
   integrate transport service planning and provision at city level, and serve
   as a single agency overseeing all the modes of transport. It can help
   minimise multiplicity of departments/ agencies involved in transport
   planning, provision and regulation.
   - As India experiences rapid urbanisation, and as transport needs grow,
   better transport planning, including under JNNURM, has become essential. In
   addition to the measures suggested above, others such as flexible work
   timings, telecommuting, congestion pricing, better integration of urban
   amenities and services to minimise motorised and public transport merit
   consideration.


*Mukul Asher is professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy,*

*National University of Singapore (sppasher at nus.edu.sg) and Tarun Sharma is
an independent urban policy consultant*
*URL of the article:*
http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/report_improvements-needed-in-planning-transport-projects-under-jnnurm_1576710-all