A solution to Delhi's travel woes

The author is expressing her views on Delhi Metro

I woke up this morning to the welcome news that in the coming year, the Delhi metro is going to expand into the fourth largest metro network in the world. It’s exciting news for the capital’s commuters, although the recent price increase of metro tickets has made the Metro unaffordable for many. A recent conversation with an Uber driver and a domestic help got me thinking about another transportation solution that can be executed concurrently with metro expansion — the development of cycle, rickshaw and pedestrian tracks across the city. I was, as usual, stuck in traffic on the road outside my house. “It’s these slow-moving cycle rickshaws that cause the traffic snarls around New Friends Colony,” said my Uber driver. No politician wanted to get rickshaws off Delhi’s roads for fear of offending the sizable vote bank that used them, he said, adding: “The government should ban them.” The commencement of operations of the magenta line of the metro nearby had led to an increase in rickshaw use here, he said, causing further chaos on the roads.

There was an inherent flaw, I realised, watching some pedestrians endanger life and limb by attempting to cross the road ahead, with our public transport system that focused on gas-guzzling vehicles to the detriment of pedestrians, cyclists and rickshaws. In several ways, I argued with the Uber driver, rickshaws had proved crucial in increasing the last mile connectivity to the metro across the city. “That might well be true,” said the driver, “but we’ve been stuck in traffic for the last 10 minutes thanks to them.” Just then, amidst the snarling horns and too-close-for-comfort buses, I espied Kamini, a domestic help who works near our house, sitting bolt upright in a rickshaw. The Uber should have been faster, but both of us arrived at our destination around the same time. 

“The rickshaw is the poor man’s taxi,” said Kamini. “Autos have a base fare of Rs 30, while rickshaws charge a minimum of only Rs 10. Sometimes, if someone shares my ride, it becomes even cheaper.” 

Buses, she said, did not ply within the residential areas where she worked.  “Also, the lane outside my house is so narrow that only rickshaws and two-wheelers are able to enter,” said she. When I told her that the Uber driver thought rickshaws should be banned in Delhi, she was horrified. “They’re my lifeline, my only transportation option,” she declared. “Without them, I’d expend all my energy walking to my place of work, and have none left to do my job, which is physically quite demanding.” Instead of banning rickshaws altogether, the government should, she felt, develop cycling and walking tracks as an alternative to cars, buses and the metro. 

Kamini had a valid point, I realised. Today, the government doesn’t simply need to provide expensive world class transportation — it also has to develop alternatives to it. Instead of banning the lakhs of rickshaws on Delhi’s roads, a saner solution could be to create special zones where these slow-moving vehicles can ply without inconveniencing faster traffic, or being endangered by it. The banks of the Yamuna or Delhi’s huge network of drains, for example, can easily be developed to accommodate rickshaw and cycle tracks, as well as pedestrian zones. Not only will this benefit Kamini and others like her, it would be great for everyone who enjoys biking and walking more than they like sitting in cars . Perhaps in 2018, our city planners will work towards balancing high tech, high-speed transport solutions with the needs of the majority of the population, once famously referred to as India in slow motion.