Increase bus fleet to solve traffic problem: expert

“Public transport system can solve the problems of today’s cities. Even today,the car ownership in India is very low compared to some other countries. The share of public transport system is fast declining. Fleet of buses in transport utilities is on the decline as most of them are running in losses.”

He said,“Earlier,not many civic bodies used to have mobility plans of the cities prepared. However,now,since the government has made it mandatory for the cities for seeking funds,many cities are preparing these plans only for the sake of funds and not for the development.”

He said mobilising people rather than vehicles and promoting the use of non-motorised transport was the need of the hour. “Buses were still the lifeline of any city and increasing the fleet would do well.”

Shreya Gadepalli of Institute for Transport and Development Policy (ITDP) stressed the importance of walking and cycling.

“It is a myth that cycling is time consuming and inconvenient. A study was conducted in Copenhagen (Denmark) which is known as a ‘cycling city’ to know what makes people cycle. Almost 61 per cent people said they cycle because it was safe and easy. Some 19 per cent said it is healthier. Nearly 6 per cent said it is cheap,while only one per cent said they cycle to save the environment,” she said.

She said that public transport is the only solution to reduce congestion and that Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is possible on dense narrow streets also.

There were presentations on different topics including health of culture by actor Farooq Sheikh,urban biodiversity by Erach Bharucha,citizens’ health by Rajeev Yerwadekar,green cities by M Anand,among others. The conference will conclude on Saturday.