Comprehensive mobility plan for all cities advocated

Metro Rail transport or building of more roads, flyovers and elevated highways may not necessarily be the answer to India's urban transport problems, urban planning experts have opined.
They feel that efficient public transport is the solution and urged early intervention to enable the emerging cities to cope up with the problem to avoid the unwieldy experiences of mega and major cities.
The opinion came in the form of a set of 10 recommendations of the four-day long Urban Mobility India Conference, organized by Urban Development Ministry and the Institute of Urban Transport, that concluded yesterday.
The meet has recommended formulation of Comprehensive Mobility Plans for cities with over one lakh population focusing on introduction of public transport systems at an early stage to avoid the kind of problems that bigger cities are facing today.

The example of Naya Raipur, which had introduced Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) at an early stage in its development was highlighted as a good practice.
Noting that BRTS is in use in over 160 cities across the world, the participants noted that it may not have yielded desired results in some Indian cities, but it is workable and relevant.

The conference was attended by over 1,000 decision makers, experts, academia, industry delegates, civil society representatives and other stakeholders from 20 Indian states and 23 foreign countries. Over 70 presentations and 20 research papers were presented at the event.
O P Agarwal, Director-General of the Institute of Urban Transport, told PTI that 'Relevance of a particular mode of transport like the Metro or BRTS is guided primarily by the volume of movement of people and economics.

What is needed in the larger context is quick and reliable public transport in urban areas, he said.
"From the experience elsewhere in the World, it is evident that we need to focus on emerging cities with early intervention to ensure such options, Agarwal said.