Urbanisation is taking place at a rapid pace in India which reflects the growth trends in economic development. During the last two decades urban population has grown by about 3 per cent per year while total population grew by less than 2 per cent per year.

According to the 2011 Census, about 377 million Indians, comprising about 31 per cent of the population, live in urban areas. The census shows that towns and cities with a population of more than one lakh are 393, of which 53 have more than one million people.

Projections are that by 2031 about 600 million Indians will reside in urban areas, an increase of over 200 million in just 20 years. To compare population growth with vehicle growth, nearly 35 per cent of the total vehicles in the country are plying in metropolitan cities alone, which constitute just 11 per cent of the population.

Delhi, the capital of India, which contains 1.4 per cent of the population, accounts for nearly 7 per cent of all motor vehicles in the country. Very few cities of India have an adequate public transport system.

This exponential growth in motor vehicles is the direct consequence of the failure of the public transport system to keep pace with growing urban travel demand combined
with mindless encouragement of central and state governments to private transport. rowing income and aspirations of urban population only make this problem of urban transportation very acute.

People rely more on personalised modes such as cars and two-wheelers. In most cities, two-wheelers and cars account for over 90 per cent of the motorized vehicle population. More so, the expansion in the road network has not been commensurate with this increase in vehicles.

This growth of personal motor vehicles has translated itself into the problem of acute road congestion, high energy consumption leading to rising air pollution and a high level of accident risk.

To make the situation worse, most of the major roads and junctions are heavily encroached by parked vehicles, roadside hawkers, and pavement dwellers. As a consequence of these factors, already deficient space for movement of vehicles is further reduced.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to move from one place to another. It is not any more the problem of big cities, now several small cities and towns are also involved. Very few cities of India have an adequate public transport system. In Delhi, cars occupy 90 per cent of the road space but transport less than 13 per cent of Delhi’s commuters.

This situation has led to a high level of road congestion. Congestion involves queuing, slower speeds and increased travel times. In 2007, a study commissioned for the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, found that the average journey speed in Delhi was around 16km/h and only slightly higher in Mumbai. During peak hour, traffic in Mumbai flows at a speed of 5 km/h speed.

In Bangalore, during peak hours average speed of traffic is less than 10 km/h. The consequences of congestion have already turned serious and are worsening quality of life. By 2050 urban population is projected to be more than 50 per cent of the total population.

If not tackled now, the situation is likely to go completely out of control in coming years. Another aspect which cannot be ignored is that such growth is also responsible for a high share of petroleum consumed in the country and thus threatens energy security and environmental health of the country through higher emission levels of greenhouse gases resulting in higher pollution levels.

As per a WHO study, 13 of the 20 most polluted cities worldwide are in India. Respiratory diseases have become endemic in cities and hit hard the weaker sections. Things will get worse with the growth of urbanisation and vehicle population.

Increasing incidence of road accidents is another area of grave concern. India has only one per cent of world vehicles, whereas it accounts for 6 per cent of accidents and 10 per cent of fatalities.

International experience has made it clear that trying to solve traffic problems by building more and bigger roadsis not the solution. Cities will keep expanding and population will continue to grow but how many times can roads be widened and how much land can be acquired for this.

According to Lewis Mumford, an American writer, “Adding highway lanes to deal with traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity”. Thus, in order to make our cities grow to their true potential, there is urgent need of effective, efficient and
sustainable urban transport. Improved public transport, it is realized, is the most sustainable solution to the problem of urban mobility.

Also, it is a crucial part of the solution to the nation’s economic, energy and environmental challenges and helping to bring a better quality of life. Many cities in developed countries are now trying to recover from a cardominated development era by halting addition of more infrastructure for private vehicles and re-allocating road space for public transport and nonmotorized transport.

In India, the opposite is happening. The share of public transport and non-motorised transport is declining sharply. Car sales in Indiaare galloping and have surged ahead ofmarkets like China, Brazil and Europe.

A sustainable urban mobility paradigmwould imply shifting motorised vehicle users, mainly car and two-wheeler users, to public transport. The lack of effective, city-wide public transport threatens to stunt India’s urban development. Every segment of society – individuals, families, communities and businesses – will benefit from public transportation.

It provides personal mobility and freedom for people from every walk of life and has a proven record of reducing congestion. According to Gustavo Petro, Mayor of Bogota – “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

The challenge is of how to achieve this paradigm shift in urban mobility. Transportation is not merely a technical problem; it is a matter of public policy and political will.

The answer lies in the hands of policy-makers. Political will, continuity and constant enhancement of public and non-motorised projects, creating capacity among government staff and providing them with the appropriate tools have proven effective in changing a city’s transport situation and in making sustainable urban mobility a driver for overall advancement.
(The writer is a freelance researcher)