City streets must be accessible to users from all walks, no matter the age, gender and physical abilities.
Background
Indian cities have seen enormous growth and spatial expansion over the past few decades, and daily commutes have extended significantly (Joshi & Joseph, 2015). Commuters have thus begun using ‘faster’ modes such as motorcycles or motorized vehicles, although under investment in public transport meant that bus fleets have become less efficient. To facilitate the mobility of private vehicles, roads were routinely widened, and highways built at the expense of walking, cycling, or other street activities (Joshi & Joseph, 2015).
Yet despite the recent decrease in mode-share, non-motorized modes still dominate the modal share of Indian cities, and even in the megacities (population > 8 million), the modal share of NMT ranges between 40% and 50% of the total modal share, and less than a quarter of urban trips are on personal motor vehicles.
Challenges
Indian cities are characterized by rapid urbanization resulting to congested streets with high vehicular traffic each year. Over the last two decades, transport planning in India has focused primarily on improving conditions for private vehicles at the expense of safe footpaths and cycling facilities. On the few streets where footpaths exist, pedestrians are still at risk with speeding motorists driving on them during peak hours.
Successes
Cities like Pune and Chennai are extensively working on initiatives such as the Complete Streets project, to enhance accessibility and mobility and to introduce Indian cities to the concepts of high-quality footpaths, segregated cycle tracks, safe pedestrian crossing and regulated on-street parking.
In the last two decades, Pune has shown relentless efforts towards expanding sustainable transport infrastructure by allocating resources, implementing institutional reforms, and building capacity for NMT investment. The city of Pune has shown an extraordinary commitment to improving sustainable mobility for its people by taking steps to improve walking, cycling, and public transport across the city. The city of Pune also developed Urban Street Design Guidelines that were developed to prioritize walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure.
In 2014, Chennai became the first city in India to adopt the Non Motorised Transport Policy in which the city sets aside 60% of the Chennai Corporation’s transport budget for the creation and maintenance of walking and cycling networks.
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