Urban India is rapidly expanding. Its growing population has put pressure on its transportation systems, forcing an expansion of urban infrastructure. However, many of these projects are not accessible to all commuters. For example, suburban railway and buses end up being used exclusively by the middle and lower classes, metros by the upper middle class, while expressways cater to a small percentage of car-owners. This leads to an underutilisation of public resources, while unevenly distributing commuters across modes of transportation. Recognising the exclusive nature of some transport projects may shed light on why many Metro projects face low-ridership, and why increased road building has not reduced congestion. What can be done to make transport infrastructure more accessible for commuters?
While only 1/3rd of all commuters use private vehicles, private transportation receives the most attention and a large amount of funding. Instead, governments could focus on improving last-mile connectivity in making transit accessible to all commuters. A possible solution is through the multi-modal integration of public transport. This needs to occur on two levels: fare integration, and infrastructure integration.
Fare integration refers to integrated ticketing across transport modes. A commuter should be able to seamlessly travel across transport modes without having to purchase different tickets, across different user interfaces. A unified payment interface across multiple services can provide location and timing updates and booking services for all public transportation modes can ease the lives of commuters who currently have to juggle between different applications for booking and tracking for different services. The interface must be available in local languages for it to be truly accessible for more commuters. The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, is a step in this direction. Stepping up the integration of the NCMC card across services, cities and transport modes will aid commuters immensely.
This approach is likely to succeed only if it is complemented by the integration of services and infrastructure. Transport modes are often operated by different agencies, depriving commuters of a single integrated infrastructure that enables smooth travel. Consequently, commuters have to switch between fragmented modes of transport which often lag in connecting services, having to navigate complex, inconvenient schedules of buses, metros and trains to reach their destinations. First and last mile connectivity is also compromised in such cases, with commuters having to rely on private vehicles or walk long distances to reach transport nodes. Service optimisation and integration can be explored as a viable solution to make transport seamless and easy to use. This would reduce the dependency on fixed infrastructure and instead optimise the services that can be dynamic to development. Construction investment that is required to build new infrastructure would be significantly lower, while being more responsive to commuters’ needs.
An example of this can be designing multi-modal transport modes. Dedicating public transport services on automobile-oriented infrastructure, like freeways and over-sea bridges, can be an affordable starting point for this. For example, the upcoming Dwarka Expressway between Delhi and Gurgaon may include a dedicated bus-lane that can provide commuters with reliable and efficient public transport on infrastructure that is meant for vehicles only. As a city that suffers from chronic congestion despite eight-lane highways, Gurgaon’s roads can greatly benefit from dedicated public transportation. Intermediate services, like auto-rickshaws and taxis, can bridge the gap in services by providing last-mile connectivity from transport hubs to residential and commercial hubs.
Metro projects, for all their benefits, are inadequate in providing first and last-mile connectivity to consumers. Reducing fare prices, improving coverage, and increasing frequency of services can make public transport comfortable, adequate and accessible. To bridge the first and last mile connectivity, embracing intermediate public transport like taxi, auto and bus services from transport nodes is crucial. To attract the 26% of personal vehicle users, public transport can strive to provide the same advantages that individuals enjoy with their vehicles: comfort, reliability, and connectivity. Air-Conditioned buses and train services, that are operational in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, can encourage car-owners to switch public transport, providing better savings for commuters, reducing parking hassles and also cutting down on air pollution. A counter-argument to introducing “premium” public transport is its higher fare and operational costs. Cities where such services are operational have shown a positive response to premium services, and the costs for such services pale in comparison to the cost of pollution mitigation and having to support ever-increasing private vehicles on the road.
New infrastructure projects are crucial for growth, but prioritising construction is not enough to make urban transportation accessible. While work on integrating interfaces and infrastructure has been initiated in some cities, expanding on the same could benefit commuters and the city in the long run. Investment in accessible, multi-modal public transportation will curb emissions, reduce congestion and increase savings for commuters. Fare-integration and multi-modal transportation are key to making public transport an appealing first choice for all commuters.