JOIN USCOVID-19: 90% fall in public transport ridership, says Urban Affairs Ministry
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Friday said that there is steep drop in public transport ridership volumes by 90% in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministry in its advisory to states on steps to be taken to provide effective transport system said that re-establishing the earlier level of ridership in public transport is a big challenge for cities, as people may be looking for more options especially personal modes that allow for safer travel in the post lockdown scenario.
"Due to the social distancing norms being practiced, (Metro/Bus Rapid Transport) capacities would be utilised at 25 to 50 percent of pre-corona virus levels. Such dramatic and dynamic changes in demand and supply will require complementing these public transport systems with alternative modes of transit,” said Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra in its advisory sent to states on public transport system.
To avoid resurgence of car and other private vehicle usage, many cities around the world have encouraged e-ticketing, digital payments and reallocating street space for cycling and pedestrians through street closures, creating Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) priority zones, pop-up bike lanes & sidewalks, providing parking and charging equipments and financing options to make cycling more accessible, the advisory said.
The Ministry suggested the states to adopt three-pronged strategy in a phased manner: Short (within 6 months), Medium (within 1 year) and Long term (1-3 years).
Encourage & Revive Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)-As most of the urban trips are clocked in under five kilometres, NMT offers perfect opportunity to implement in this COVID -19 crisis as it requires low cost, less human resource, easy & quick to implement, scalable and environment friendly.
Recommencing public transport with greater confidence of Commuters-Public transport is the backbone in urban areas especially for the low/middle income commuters, Durga Shankar Mishra in his advisory to states said.
Various studies conducted by Urban affairs Ministry shows that about 16-57% of urban commuters are pedestrian and about 30-40% of commuter use bicycles in the country depending on the size of the city.
With a 60% reduction in air pollution since the epidemic, Mishra added that other countries have used this moment to avoid a resurgence of car usage by harnessing technology, creating Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) zones, and financing options for bicycles, the advisory said.
Considering this as an opportunity, elevating the priority of these modes in this testing times gives travellers another private vehicle alternative, which is clean, safe, secured particularly, if it is integrated with other modes and affordable for all. This area is one of the thrust areas of National Urban Transport, he said.
India has 700 kms of operational metro rail in 18 major cities and a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network of roughly 450 km in 11 cities that carry 10 million passengers daily.