Integrated mobility, data-sharing key to solving Bengaluru’s traffic congestion

'The city has an urgent need to move commuter preference from personal to public transport'

There is an immediate need for the city’s transport stakeholders to come together to build integrated transport platforms, enable data sharing and facilitate seamless multi-modal movement if we were to reimagine mobility for a greener Bengaluru.

For a city whose traffic congestion problems are spoken about in the same breath as its information technology prowess, a well-connected public transport system and innovative traffic management techniques could possibly reduce its traffic jams, said industry stakeholders during a panel discussion held at the second edition of Deccan Herald’s Bengaluru 2040 Summit.

With about 1.07 crore vehicles already congesting the roads of the country’s IT capital and the number growing 10 per cent annually, as against the 4 per cent population growth, the city has an urgent need to move its commuters’ preference from personal to public transport, said Dr M A Saleem, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Bengaluru City.

“If we can reduce the share of personal vehicle users from 40 per cent to 20 per cent and increase our share of public transport users from 48 per cent to 75 or 80 per cent, then a lot of decongestion can happen,” he added.

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Integration of various models of public transport, that are cheaper and faster than the personal means of mobility, will incentivise the commuters to use the former, he said.

Others suggested transforming public transport spaces as hubs performing different utility functions. A metro station shouldn’t be just to catch a train. A person coming back from the office should be able to do grocery shopping at the metro itself, said Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited Managing Director Anjum Parwez. “The idea is to reduce the traffic and movement of people on the roads,” he added.

However, public transport alone cannot be the magic pill to solve the congestion problems of the city. Integration on the front of ticketing and payment is also imminent. Bengaluru Metro had recently launched QR code-based booking and payment feature for smartphones to reduce the queue time at the metro stations.

“A holistic approach to development is needed. I will be happy to share that shortly we will be launching our common mobility card,” Parwez said. He was also ready to share the metro rail’s booking application software infrastructure with other stakeholders to enable an integrated booking and payment experience.

Data sharing through a City Operating System (City OS) is key to enabling a seamless transport experience, said Bosch Limited’s Joint Managing Director Guruprasad Mudlapur.

“City OS has a Transaction Engine which takes care of all the transactions including connecting people, their movements and their ticketing experience, whereas the Learning Engine can make use of the data being offered by various stakeholders and start planning for tomorrow,” he said.

Leveraging data gives the ability to learn from what has been done across the world and curate the solutions for Bengaluru, Mudlapur said, citing the successful transport infrastructure of London.

While the recently passed Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) Bill, 2022, appears to be a step in the direction of solving the myriad of challenges the city’s mobility faces, policymakers need to be more transparent, said SUN Mobility Chairperson and Co-founder Chetan Maini.

“We are planning the mobility for the next 17 years and I don't see a clear plan today. My request to all the stakeholders here, and the government, is to put in public view and make transparent the milestones ahead of us, creating an annual plan for each of the 17 years,” Maini said.