Climate Change and Transport in India: Initiatives and experience
O.P. AgarwalManaging Director, Urban Mass Transit Co.
Vice President, Institute of Urban Transport (India)
TRB 2009
National Action Plan on Climate Change
A comprehensive plan, with 8 missions, directly under the Prime Minister’s Office
1. Solar Mission
2. Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
3. Mission on Sustainable Habitat
4. Water Mission
5. Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem
6. Mission for Green India
7. Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
8. Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
Mission on Sustainable Habitat
i. Extending application of the “Energy Conservation Building Code”
ii. Recycling of material and Urban Waste Management
iii. Better urban planning and modal shift to public transport
National Urban Transport Policy - 2006
Integrated land use and transport planning
Focus on public transport and NMT
Coordinated planning through a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority
Innovative Financing Use land as a resource Greater involvement of the private sector
Cleaner fuels
Capacity building – demonstration projects
National Urban Renewal Mission
Established a partnership for the national, provincial and local governments to finance the needed urban infrastructure
National government commits $ 12 billion over a 7 year period
Linked to prescribed reforms
Thus:
National UrbanTransport Policy
National UrbanRenewal Mission
Established aFramework for action
Created an incentivefor implementation
Unique features of the Indian situation
Dominance of 2-wheelers – makes a shift to public transport much more difficult to achieveRising income creates an urge to own a personal vehiclePoor social image of the bus and cyclingClimate and terrain can be constraints for NMT in some cities
Public Bus Transport in India
City population Number Number with formal bus services
> 4 million 7 7
1 – 4 million 28 8
0.5 to 1.0 million 50 5
0.1 to 0.5 million 370 NIL
Out of 85 cities with over 0.5 million people, only 20 have a structured bus service
Public bus transport in IndiaLargely dominated by state owned monopoly entitiesVery poor quality buses – image of a poor man’s compulsionServices lack customer focusInadequate capacityLoss making despite prime landIn Delhi – sizable segment of net cost private operators – small owners providing highly unsafe servicesInability to attract corporate operators
Initiatives taken15 cities plan to introduce modern bus services Indore has been a catalyst
BRT in 11 cities - others on the anvil6 cities planning new metro rail systemsNational pressure for Unified Metropolitan Transport AuthorityComprehensive mobility plan is a mustLarge capacity building program in the pipeline Training, Education, Legal frameworks, Institutions,
standards and manuals
Modern bus services
1. Attractive bus2. Offering value added services3. Financially sustainable
Innovative financing
4. Prioritization Traffic light signaling Road space
Bus Rapid TransitTwo cities have started services
Severe teething problems but now stabilizing
Good learning opportunity for others Need an influential champion Need to avoid haste Lack of capacity – city engineers, consultants,
people at large Unique problems need unique solutions Poor Public awareness Adverse impact on the influential section of society Complexity of the design process Value of reliable data
Future Outlook
Need one successful example to start operations
Need to avoid haste – there is still a lot to learn and imbibe
Better to have a delayed system than not have one at all
Metro rail systems
3 coming up on government financing
Others looking at PPP options
Hyderabad has created doubts on the PPP option
What has been overlooked
Simple low cost traffic improvement measures Intersection improvements Segregation of low speed and high speed vehicles One way streets Improved traffic circulation systems
Improvement/modernization of existing bus systemsImproving facilities for pedestrians and cyclists
Main challengesLack of capacity
Inadequate appreciation of holistic planning – tends to be fragmented
Fragmented governance
Preference for highly visible and high cost investments
Lack of a reliable database for credible planning
Inadequate contextual research
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