The money lost on our Roads

Everyone hates traffic congestion, but the situation in our cities is only getting worse as solutions have failed to keep pace with population growth. A study has pegged the avoidable social cost of traffic congestion in Bengaluru at `38,000 crore annually. The cost covers time delays, man-hours lost, extra fuel consumed, vehicle wear and tear, traffic accidents and environmental damage. The study, commissioned by taxi aggregator Uber and done by Boston Consulting Group, claimed India loses about `1.5 lakh crore annually due to traffic congestion in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

The figures, though debatable because there’s no certain way to estimate such costs, don’t come as a surprise knowing how our cities are increasingly getting congested due to growth in population and an accompanied increase in number of vehicles. With little being done to provide efficient transport solutions, people are getting used to spending more and more time commuting from one point to another. There’s no quick fix for traffic congestion but what is worrying is that even longterm solutions are implemented in such a way that they tend to be far less efficient than they are originally supposed to be.

Many of our public transport projects are hit by poor planning and huge delays. For example, Bengaluru’s metro rail project, when all three phases become operational, will cover about 266 km, but the project is delayed and its capacity will not be sufficient to meet the demands of a rapidly growing city. The city needs a bigger network along with other mass transit options like suburban rail and better bus services.

Already, there are more than 70 lakh vehicles on Bengaluru’s roads and the popularity of app-based cabs has further added to the congestion. Policymakers must think of a way to discourage purchase and use of private vehicles. An efficient and integrated public transit system that involves different modes of transport is the only solution to the traffic congestion.