Saturday, 21 January 2017

Distortions in urban transport investment in India

This is an article analysing of the investment  patterns in urban transport. The analysis highlights the distorted pattern of the investment with focus on how the investment is in favour of motorised transport and metro rail systems at the cost of cycling, walking and the cheaper surface rail based investment.

For the complete article please click here. The article abstract is given below.

Abstract
National Urban Transport Policy, the guiding document for urban transport in India, emphasis movement of people and goods and not vehicles. The paper establishes that investment on walking and cycling facilities, and surface rail projects give maximum benefit compared to high cost motorised transport and metro rail. From past studies the paper also brings out that share of cycling and walking is very high – varying between 58 and 30 % in different cities. The paper identifies that contrary to benefits accrued and usage patterns, analysis of investment - both past and future projections, shows that metro rail and road development projects are preferred crowding out the other investment. The paper also identifies the reasons for distortion by identifying various groups working in the policy and their distorted perception on urban transport development. Finally the paper recommends increased investment in non motorised facilities by retrieving road space. To facilitate investment in surface rail it is necessary that Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Urban Development and Planning Commission should jointly work out the strategies. The study also recommends recasting of academic programs in urban transport to make them multi disciplinary and policy oriented.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are author's personal views and do not reflect the views of the organisation he works for. 

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