Commute

Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, is one of the fastest-growing metropolitans in the country. The growing population and city expansion has stressed the existing infrastructure of Chennai, especially the transport systems. The transport sector needs to be planned to cater to the existing needs and meet the future demands of the growing population by taking into account changing travel patterns. Multiple studies have been conducted to devise a cohesive transportation plan for Chennai such as the Integrated Transport Plan 1977, Madras Area Transport Study 1986, Madras Route Rationalisation Study 1986, Traffic and Transportation Study for MMA 1986, Comprehensive…

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in 2010 passed the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Act with the intention to oversee and coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in the planning and operation of the transportation system in the city. However, a decade since the Act was passed, the much talked about nodal body is yet to get off the mark and remains largely on paper. Chennai city is famous for its multiple modes of public transport in the form of suburban trains and the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) operated by the Southern Railways, the Metro…

“I feel like I have gotten so used to all the issues with Chennai’s suburban rail that I don’t even feel like complaining about it anymore,” says Sivaraman, with a half hearted smile as he waits at the Thiruvanmiyur railway station in Chennai, to board the train to Chennai Beach station after a day’s work. When asked if he has ever tried lodging a complaint about all these 'issues' that he refers to, he said he has done so several times but no change has been made. However, the 54-year-old, who has been using the suburban rail in Chennai regularly…

In Part 1 of this series, we saw that pedestrians are at high risk on Bengaluru streets, especially groups like children and the elderly. In this part, we look at solutions to this problem. In the wake of COVID-19, Bengaluru, like many other cities worldwide, was put under a strict lockdown. During this time, as people stayed indoors and only left their homes to visit healthcare centers or to shop for essentials, they avoided long-distance travel. Hence hyper-local mobility increased; trips were made mostly on foot.  Car travel reduced drastically, and significant improvements were observed in traffic congestion, air quality…

For the past three years, Seema, a 35-year-old healthy woman has been running all outdoor errands for her family. She lives with her six-year-old son, her 42-year-old wheelchair-ridden husband, and a 70-year-old mother-in-law in a humble middle-income household. After her husband met with a road accident and lost his ability to walk, the family has been increasingly cautious about their outdoor activities.  Seema’s aged mother-in-law and disabled husband almost never leave the house unless a special van is rented. Seema always walks her son to and from the school bus, and at no time is he allowed to walk by…

With transportation identified as a major environment polluter, the move from fossil fuels to electric vehicles is seeing a major push from central and state governments. Consumers too are warming to the idea of switching to electric vehicles (EVs) for personal transport given that both petrol and diesel prices have crossed the Rs 100 per litre mark. Are we ready for this? ​ ADDA, the apartment management software platform and Citizen Matters organised an online panel discussion with different stakeholders on September 29th to look at possible solutions. The discussion focussed on how gated communities, in particular, could facilitate this…

The Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is working with the Greater Chennai Corporation to finalize the city’s new parking management policy. The ITDP said that the goals of the new framework included reducing the demand for parking and reclaiming on-street parking spots for sustainable modes of transport – the expectation is that the new policy will minimize traffic congestion, air pollution and accidents.  “In many Indian cities, the phenomenal growth in ownership of private motor vehicles, combined with dwindling investments in public transport, has resulted in streets choked with traffic. Haphazard parking takes up significant real estate on-street…

As the second wave of COVID has abated, Bengalureans are getting out and about. Many need transport services to go to work or for chores, but bus services by the BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) are yet to catch up. In fact, the services have not even gotten back to the levels of last March, just before the second wave struck.  Bus numbers and schedules lower than in March During the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, BMTC had stopped all of its services except those for frontline workers. Services started picking up gradually, especially after the first wave of…

I started commuting to work by cycle in 2011, to avoid the stress of getting stuck in traffic jams on the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Surprisingly, I found that cycling was not as hard as I imagined it to be. Slowly, my frequency of cycling increased, and while the traffic jams on ORR, Whitefield and Sarjapura Road peaked too, it hardly affected me. I was riding a 23-km round trip everyday to work, come what may! Cycling brought immense flexibility and freedom to my schedule. Now, due to COVID and the work-from-home option, the number of commuters including cyclists have…

Once upon a time, Hyderabad was the ‘City of Cycles’. Ask old timers and they will tell you how the streets were full of cyclists, a complete contrast to the congested mess of cars and motorised vehicles that have taken over all roads, big and small. In olden days, it was much safer for cyclists too, because there were fewer motor vehicles on the roads and therefore, the risk of cyclists meeting with serious or fatal accidents was low. Things, however, have changed drastically now. As the Bicycle Mayor of Hyderabad, I am in close touch with the cycling community…