‘Car boom shows transport planning failed’

NEW DELHI: The central government may be left with no option but to introduce penal provisions, including levying congestion tax, if the traffic gridlock on roads grows further or continues like as it is now. Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said this on Tuesday while emphasizing the need to have an efficient and reliable multi-modal public transport system in urban areas.
Speaking at Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo, Naidu said the government won’t introduce the provision of congestion tax, as it is being done in other developed countries, until there are adequate public transport facilities so that people have options other than using private vehicles.
He said that between 1981 and 2011, the population of the six major cities— Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad—increased by two-and-a-half times while number of private vehicles shot up by over 30 times, from 5 million to 160 million.
Naidu said while such increase in private vehicles is a sign of prosperity, it also signals how it’s a “complete failure of urban transport planning in the country.” He added that a smart city does not mean everyone having a personal vehicle but “even the rich and affluent preferring to take public transport”.
Naidu said the trend of growth in private vehicles amounts to the rich and the affordable appropriating limited urban space at the cost of the poor. “This social exclusion should be addressed with better transport planning,” the minister said.
On the marginalization of vulnerable road users in cities and towns, Naidu said that with no dedicated space left for pedestrians and cyclists in urban areas they face the risk of getting hit by motorized vehicles. He said that all states must put their best foot forward to address increasing air pollution and the climate change.
The minister also said that Metro transport option is capital intensive and the success of Delhi Metro may not be feasible to be replicated at all places. He suggested location specific transport systems including Bus Rapid Transport, Light Rail Transport to meet the requirement of different cities.
Welcoming the Centre’s move to reduce diesel prices, Jamshyd N Godrej, CMD of Godrej and Boyce, said that now the focus should be on ensuring better quality diesel to check air pollution.