Delhi losing an estimated Rs 60,000 crore annually due to congestion: Report

Devika Singh   New Delhi     Last Updated: July 19, 2017  | 00:00 IST
Delhi losing an estimated Rs 60,000 crore annually due to congestion: Report

Delhi has been losing Rs 60,000 crore annually due to increasing congestion, pollution in the city and this could go up to Rs 98,000 crore by 2030 if immediate steps are not taken to address the situation, says a report released by cab aggregator Uber on Wednesday.

The report, which was released by the company to mark the launch of its 'Decongest India' campaign in Delhi, also says that the average time spent on the roads in Delhi has doubled over the last six years, as the speed of traffic has gone down by half. "As of 2016, people living in Delhi spent 3.43 hours on the road for a distance of 40 km, in comparison to 1.36 hours in 2011," the report adds.

Uber's campaign, 'Decongest India', is a nationwide effort to identify and curb causes of congestion, starting with New Delhi. As a part of this campaign the company will be focusing on driving data-backed conversations on solving congestion across Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore in the coming days.

The campaign's inaugural leg in New Delhi was announced in the presence of Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi and Manoj Tiwari, MP, North East Delhi with the launch of the report "Moving Delhi Forward: The Case for Decongestion"

"With the launch of Decongest India, we are hoping to draw the attention of policymakers on how cars can be part of the solution - rather than the problem. The first leg of the campaign is focused on Delhi,  clearly one of the most polluted and congested cities," said Uber's Head of Public Policy for Uber India & South Asia Shweta Rajpal Kohli.

The company informed that through targeted conversations and data sharing with relevant stakeholders across government, media and civil society, 'Decongest India' aims to draw attention to incentivising car pooling, reducing dependency on parking, developing credible, affordable alternatives to private car ownership and complementing public transport by providing affordable and reliable mobility options that help cover the last mile.

The company also revealed some interesting data points related to its ride-sharing service UberPOOL. Here are some of them.

  • More than 30 per cent of total trips in Delhi are POOL trips.
  • Over time, UberPOOL riders in Delhi have contributed to save over 19 million kilometres driven, which equals to saving of 936 kilo-litres of fuel and cut over 22 lakh kgs of CO2 emissions.