A good synthesis of climate and transport economics would help
PremiumAn analysis of urban India’s need for sustainable mobility suggests that we must rely heavily on clean public transit systems
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Road transport contributes about 10% of global emissions, and are rising faster than any other sectors. Hence the emphasis of developed countries on policies seeking a shift away from car possession and addressing aspects of stickiness and personal-space that are inherent to private-car usage. However, in India, while a slow transition towards zero-emission vehicles is underway, a similar target looks difficult to achieve.
In India, road-infrastructure creation is a major emphasis to satisfy pressing traffic needs. Transport economics argues that the creation of new transport infrastructure may result in decongestion for a temporary period. Transport policies and investment patterns in India’s fast-evolving cities greatly influence the country’s mobility pattern. Almost all metropolitan cities are presently saturated with traffic and the development of new expressways in these cities favours automobiles as a dominant mode of urban mobility, with increased car ownership taken as a given. The motivation to use public transport, walk or cycle gets diminished by such an approach, worsening the situation. Though expressways satisfy the demands of traffic and mobility, they may not do so in case of the ‘place’ and ‘accessibility’ functions of road networks. In India, any transformation on this front may take time, considering the nature of Indian cities.
Another idea of transport economics is the development of new ‘transit cities’. These are developed in response to traffic-saturation crises, where cars are considered a luxury instead of necessity, and focus on public-transport investments, the role of institutions and on spatial priorities, all of it oriented towards mass-transit planning. Transit cities are characterized by a package of services so comprehensive, convenient and integrated that it acts as an alternative to car ownership.
Creating an expressway may not deliver a new transit city. In general, it needs greater emphasis on improving ‘mobility’ and ‘accessibility’. Mobility here would mean focusing on the efficient movement of people and goods with the help of public transport, while accessibility means focusing on the reachability of destinations. If road space for cars is reallocated, it may reduce congestion delays, increase traffic speed and perhaps reduce overall traffic levels by significant amounts. But faster traffic with fewer delays might result in changes in travel time, routes, destinations and modes of transport as users take advantage of enhanced speed.
If India focuses on developing new transit cities, the country will have to consider trade-offs between development and values, the most prominent issue (among many) being displacement. As the stakeholders in development projects are varied, some sections may be more comfortable than others with private-vehicle usage. ‘Congestion’ is rarely perceived the same way by all, with group interests varying based on the nature of their occupation and personal preferences. However, this proposal as a whole may be of value to the majority of urban dwellers, as the marginal social benefit of it seems to exceed its marginal social cost. A policy of improving public transport needs strong government support, especially with regard to the aim of reducing private cars on streets. While this could be achieved through time- and location-specific road and parking-slot pricing, its implementation in India is unlikely to be easy.
The conventional theory of roadway design argues that wider, straighter, flatter and more open streets ensure traffic safety, while climate-change economics argues for measures to improve the ‘accessibility’ and ‘place’ functions of any street, restricting private cars and improving public transport. Footpaths and cycling tracks may complement expressways and streets, even as public transport is promoted. It would also require redesigning the timing, frequency and connectivity of bus and train services, etc, so as to synchronize the same with various other services such as Metro and monorail networks that are run by metropolitan and state governments.
India already has some transport-sector investments that favour environmental sustainability. One such is the Delhi Metro, which earned carbon credits from the United Nations under its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and which other cities’ transit systems are exploring too. Expanded Metro networks by 2030 can go some distance towards attaining the sustainable development of safe, affordable and accessible transport systems for all, with improved road safety as an additional benefit. State governments may fine-tune the proposal of enhancing the quality of public transport to ensure that its positive environmental externalities far exceed the initial marginal social cost to society. The integration of cycling pathways with public transit systems, which would call for gentle track- bends and cyclist-friendly junctions, could attract car owners to use bicycles instead. These may be run on a pilot basis, coupled with plans of tree- shade coverage for cyclists.
Unauthorized street parking is another major cause of traffic congestion. Indian policy on this needs redesigning, so that the most crowded places charge the highest parking fees. A rising trend in cities is for new shopping areas, buildings, etc, to have ‘minimum parking requirements’. However, we also need better on-street parking management, with more effective and up-to-date enforcement and pricing practices. This would shift the focus away from supply-promoting policies that under-emphasize parking minimums. A combination of pricing and enforcement could be the key tool for urban spaces to check street congestion.
American transit consultant and author Jarrett Walker’s perspective on what makes public transport useful from the vantage-point of passengers is worthy of attention: It must combine accessibility to stops/stations, connectivity, frequency, span of coverage, speed, civility, fairness, simplicity, reliability and presentation. India’s transport policy could start incorporating these aspects to attract people towards the use of public transport.
Surjith Karthikeyan is deputy secretary, ministry of finance. These are the author’s personal views.
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