Metro rail should lead urban traffic system in major cities

Most of the big cities in the advanced countries have efficient mass rail transportation supplemented by public buses.

 One cannot imagine a situation in London without its popular “Underground”. Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART) is a boon to the several thousands who use it every day to commute to San Francisco. Nearer home, Delhi has demonstrated that even a partial commissioning of the metro rail has eased the traffic situation. Bombay’s suburban trains and Kolkata’s metro rail carry lakhs of passengers every day. Bangalore and Hyderabad are forging ahead with construction of mass rail systems that could ease the traffic situation. The partial opening of Bangalore Metro has given some relief to the harassed citizens. 

These metros have proved that metro rail is the only answer to mass transportation when lakhs of people are involved. There is thus a strong case to strengthen these by providing funds for expansion to those areas not covered by the metro network.Prime minister Manmohan Sigh has voiced his support to the proposal for improving the mass transport in urban centres. The money invested would be worthwhile when saving of foreign exchange by way of fuel import is concerned, as a long-term perspective. The burgeoning crude oil price should spur us to improve mass transportation and save precious fuel.

Rail transport has several advantages over road transport – it is fast, pollution free, traffic accidents are rare, saves petrol and diesel and there is no traffic congestion. However, it is capital intensive and given the fare structure, it could barely break even or may have to be subsidised by the government. Even then, its several advantages could make rail transport a front-runner in any mass transport system.

Raising funds

One wonders why the traffic planners are dragging their feet in starting mass rail system where there is none or strengthen the existing ones through increased capacity. Paucity of funds is one constraint, which could be overcome by raising funds through bonds and by borrowing money. Surely, World Bank and IMF would be interested in such a project that has a beneficial impact on the environment as well as reduce dependence on crude oil. Another solution is to involve reliable private operators by offering attractive incentives – tax breaks and share in profits or by allowing them to levy tax in any ‘build and operate’ system. These private companies could be asked to cater to the various requirements of a metro rail – civil works, rail, signal / telecom segment, coaches, stations while keeping controls to see that funds are utilised responsibly.

Crude oil, on which we are so dependent for providing energy, is going to be costlier. There appears to be no end to the spiralling price of crude oil, which is hovering around $108 per barrel. Moreover, it is a non-renewable energy, which means there is a need to conserve it by efficient means. Use of bio-diesel / ethanol is a small drop in the ocean in saving fuel. People must see mass transport as a viable alternative to use of one’s own vehicle. 

The island nation of Singapore has shown how mass transport can meet people’s demands and expectations. It has a system of incentives and disincentives. For instance, metro rail, public buses and taxis are fast and affordable. On the other hand, owning a car is expensive by way of additional levies and hefty parking fees. That is true of metros like London and New York where owning a car is a luxury, only a few could afford. Parking hassles deter an individual car owner from driving in and around big cities especially when good public transportation is available cheaply. 

Grappling with traffic

Cities and towns are grappling with the burgeoning traffic by various means that are not very effective. London has imposed a ‘congestion tax’ on each private vehicle destined to Central London. A few others are trying the system of ‘park and ride’ at the outskirts of urban centres so that the number of private vehicles entering the city is limited. Flyovers, to relieve congestion, are somewhat effective in effecting a smoother flow of traffic but certainly are no ideal solution. These only divert traffic elsewhere and cause problems there. Moreover, in future, the number of vehicles is likely to increase thanks to the automobile and two-wheeler boom with many newer and attractive models hitting the streets regularly. Attractive terms, with promise of easy loans and ‘zero’ interest rates are being held out to woo would-be owners of vehicles. 

Time has come for every big town and city to work out the modalities of introducing an efficient rail system, rather than having more buses on the roads or building more flyovers. The rail system could be over-ground like the ELRTS, underground or partially underground / partially over-ground, like in the metro rail system depending upon the needs of each urban centre. 

The more we delay, the more expensive such projects would be. And that is why the traffic planners should take a holistic view and go full steam ahead for introducing / strengthening metro rail soon in major urban centres to start with. In the long run some subsidy might be given but that’s a small price to pay for transporting millions of people in safety, quickly and with no pollution. Having satellite towns near big metros, with good connectivity, could relieve congestion but that needs long term planning to decongest metro cities.