Commute

As Mumbai returns to normal after the COVID pandemic, offices and schools have reopened. With them, the number of commuters travelling through public transport is steadily approaching pre-pandemic levels. 30 lakh people boarded the BEST buses daily in April 2022, and the number will soon cross 35 lakh. 70-72 lakh passengers travelled on the suburban railway every day, just 6-8 lakh shy of the 2019 figures. The familiar scenes of congestion have returned. Mumbai’s suburban railways are known for the often dangerous rush hour, for which the term ‘super dense crush load’ was coined. Over 16 people stand chest-to-chest on each square…

For years now, Mumbaikars have travelled on roads through barricades exclaiming, "Mumbai is upgrading." After 8 years of waiting, the city finally witnessed the results of metro construction that revealed itself on April 2nd, with the launch of the metro lines 2A and 7, between Dahisar and DN Nagar and Dahisar and Andheri East respectively. By the end of 2025, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has promised a 200 km long network of the Mumbai metro. Across the north-south and east-west axis, Line 2A, 2B, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 are expected to carry millions of commuters…

Any initiative for last-mile connectivity has to be safe, reliable and cost-effective. One of the most promising ideas to come up in recent months that satisfies these requirements is electric-autos (E-autos). Last-mile connectivity has always been an issue that all public transport entities, especially metro and bus systems, have to deal with. Bengaluru metro, for instance, with its extension to Kengeri and Anjanapura, now has a total of 51 metro stations which require last mile connectivity. An issue that will only become more widespread as the metro expands to other areas.  Bengaluru Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC), which handles the city’s…

There are over 200 cities in the world that have a metro system. London's Metro is the oldest, operating since 1863. Shanghai Metro’s network with nearly 750km is the world's largest today. It also has the highest annual ridership of 2.83 billion trips (in 2020). India’s growth post-liberalisation ushered in faster economic progress. Metropolitan cities being the biggest job creators began attracting migrants and have grown fast. Higher incomes have led to unsustainable levels of motorization because most cities have narrow streets. Bus movement has become slow in heavy traffic and hence is losing efficiency, particularly over long commute distances.…

On the occasion of Gudi Padwa on April 2nd, two new Mumbai metro lines - Line 2A and 7 - made their debut. They interconnect at Dahisar and parallelly extend into the suburbs: to DN Nagar in Andheri West and Andheri East respectively. The two yellow and red lines were first proposed and approved in 2015. Construction started in 2016 with a deadline of 2019, and yet, only Phase 1 of the lines is operational today, cutting the journey short to Dahanukarwadi, Kandivali on Line 2A and Aarey, Goregaon on Line 7. The remainder will launch as Phase 2 in…

April 2nd was a big day for Mumbai. After 8 long years, the blue line of Mumbai's metro was getting 2 new additions: the yellow Line 2A and red Line 7. On the shared Dahisar metro station, Line 2A left to Dahanukarwadi, Kandivali. Parallely, the metro on Line 7 left for Aarey in Goregaon, covering the extent of Phase 1. With the upcoming Phase 2, the 18.5 km and 16.5 km long lines will travel 30 stations bewteen them, connecting DN Nagar, Andheri West and Andheri East on the older Line 1. The lines are a clear rival for the…

This January, as part of a larger programme to make all bus travel free, Boston city set aside eight million dollars to introduce free bus travel on certain routes. Making bus travel free was first tried out in US in the 1970s. The idea caught on and by 2017, 96 such programmes have been recorded globally. In India, Delhi has presently made free bus travel free for women. Can Bengaluru think along similar lines? The city's bus network BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) currently has among the highest fares in the country, making it unaffordable to many. Besides, the city…

Access to public transport for people with disabilities has been a long standing issue often swept under the rug by the state government and the transport corporations. While the term 'disabled-friendly' has become a popular buzzword in various schemes, campaigns and budgetary promises, activists and citizens have pointed out how there is very little effort to really make public infrastructure accessible, safe and considerate for disabled individuals. The Disability Rights Alliance (DRA) is a coalition of independent, community-based organisations that advocate with and for people with any disability. One of their members filed a PIL highlighting the inaccessibility of the…

While COVID-19 virtually shut down bus systems around the world, Chennai started losing its appetite for bus travel even earlier. The share of bus trips in total travel had started dropping before the pandemic, with a marked shift to two-wheelers. The pandemic made things worse. Bus services were off for 8 days in 2019-2020, 141 days in 2020-2021 and 42 – 56 days in 2021-2022. Now, shooting fuel prices and a waning fear of the virus present an opportunity to win back passengers to MTC buses, which can save them petrol money and fund purchase of other goods and services.…

I don’t drive a four wheeler. I don’t ride a two wheeler. I don’t even cycle. I WALK everywhere in my neighbourhood, Sanjaynagar, for all my daily needs. Hence I understand the need for good, walkable footpaths. Which are essential to motivate citizens to get off their vehicles and choose to walk, at least short distances. When I heard about BBMP allocating Rs 20 lakhs to each ward for footpath improvement, where the footpath was to be identified by the ward residents, I was thrilled and looking forward to being a part of this initiative. But nothing really happened till…