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Integrated Multimodal Transport Systems
Context:
India’s urban centres are pivotal to its economic growth, with the urban population projected to rise to 590 million by 2031. This rapid urbanisation necessitates the development of efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable public transport systems.
Current Urban Transport Landscape
- Bus and Rail: Indian cities traditionally rely on bus-based systems (city buses and bus rapid transit), rail-based systems (metro and suburban rail, trams), and private shared mobility (paratransit).
- Demand-Supply Gap: However, there is a significant gap between demand and supply.
- Bus: Against a current demand of 130,000 buses—expected to grow to 220,000 by 2031—formal bus services across 127 Indian cities operate with a fleet of only 46,000 buses.
- Of these, 36,000 serve 53 cities with populations exceeding one million.
- Disparities in bus availability are stark; Bengaluru, for example, operates 53 buses per 100,000 people, compared to Lucknow’s six.
- Metro: Metro rail systems are operational in 20 cities, with more under construction or planning.
- Despite their expansion, metro systems often struggle to meet projected ridership, while bus systems in cities with metro services consistently handle significantly higher passenger volumes.
- Bus: Against a current demand of 130,000 buses—expected to grow to 220,000 by 2031—formal bus services across 127 Indian cities operate with a fleet of only 46,000 buses.
- Governance: Fragmented governance and institutional inefficiencies further hinder the integration of various transport modes.
- National initiatives such as the National Urban Transport Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, and the Metro Rail Policy advocate for unified metropolitan transport authorities (UMTAs) to address these gaps.
- However, the establishment and empowerment of UMTAs remain limited, stalling the creation of integrated, multimodal systems.
Financial and Operational Impacts
- Fragmentation in governance leads to inefficiencies, increased travel times, and higher costs for users.
- Major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata lose an estimated $22 billion annually to road congestion.
- Integration across institutional, operational, and fare systems is essential to improve the user experience and reduce these losses.
A Roadmap for Integration
- Institutional and Governance Integration: Experts highlight the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) as a pioneering model.
- Operationalised in 2022, CUMTA aims to enhance coordination, improve integration, and foster sustainability.
- Drawing from international best practices, the authors advocate empowering such authorities with financial autonomy, regulatory powers, and advanced data-sharing capabilities.
- Parking Integration: Mumbai’s challenges with parking to be integral to urban transport strategies, with smart technologies, integrated planning, and participatory governance to tackle congestion and enable seamless transit.
- Empowering UMTAs: There is a need to strengthen UMTAs with digital tools, robust data-sharing frameworks, and international insights, enabling them to mitigate congestion and support multimodal integration effectively.
- Micromobility Solutions: Micromobility options like bicycles and e-scooters for first- and last-mile connectivity.
Enhancing Physical and Operational Coordination
- Informal Public Transport (IPT): Experts explore informal public transport (IPT) systems like autorickshaws, highlighting their critical role in addressing urban mobility gaps.
- Formalising IPT through models like Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) can improve efficiency and multimodal integration.
- Regional Rapid Transit System: The Regional Rapid Transit System in India’s National Capital Region is a model for physical and operational integration.
- This underscores the importance of interoperable corridors, multimodal complexes, and real-time data in reducing travel times and promoting sustainability.
Enhancing Reach
- Inclusive Mobility for Women and Marginalised Groups: Experts focus on addressing systemic barriers like affordability, accessibility, and safety that disproportionately affect women and marginalised groups.
- Their proposed strategy emphasises equitable design and inclusive policies to enhance mobility for all.
- Data-Driven Solutions: The use of smartphone GPS data to optimise public transport systems in Delhi, identifying gaps in services and enhancing accessibility through real-time data analysis.
- Fare and Information Integration: There is importance of trip planners for seamless multimodal integration.
- There is a need for the adoption of open digital networks to facilitate interoperability, real-time scheduling, and single-window ticketing.
By fostering interagency collaboration, leveraging technology, and adopting a user-centric approach, Indian cities can create efficient, sustainable, and inclusive mobility ecosystems.
