LESS FLYOVERS ........ MORE BEARS

Lesser Flyovers….. More Bears!

(The writer would like to apologize for the delay in posting this article on the blog. It was written on 30th November, 2008, when I was doing my internship with an NGO called Janwani. I was traveling by bus today morning and had a very pleasant journey. It was an AC bus, with music being played, announcements being done before every stop, and I also managed to get a seat and read 10 pages of my novel during the journey. SO I guess it’s a pretty good day to post the article on the blog. )

I hope you have not been establish the link between flyovers and bears or else a part of effort I have put in writing the article would be futile 

We (a group of four people comprising of three IITians and an architect) had an opportunity to discuss a lot of things with the senior most executive of PMPML (the company which manages bus transport in Pune). The main agenda of the meeting was to discuss the importance of public transport and how we can improve it in Pune. This article comprises of an extract of things discussed in the meeting along with some other facts and experiences which I have gained in past one month while working on a project related with traffic issues in Pune. Many of these facts and experiences have been mind boggling and challenge the general trend of thinking among the public.

All of us have seen many old rickety public buses which could have Euro-0 or Euro-1 rating (a modern car is Euro-4 or Euro-5 and the best buses in Pune have Euro-3 rating) emitting thick black smoke. The first thought at the stench of burning diesel, which we unsuccessfully try to avoid by covering our noses, is that all these buses should be removed. But what we do not realize (at least I never thought differently) is that if we calculate the per capita pollution created by the bus which is carrying nearly 50 to 60 people, it is much less as compared to a car or two-wheeler. Just imagine if all those people traveling by bus started using car or a two wheeler, there would be so many extra vehicles on road. The point is that a bus is a much efficient way to travel as far as per capita fuel consumption, per capita road space consumed and per capita pollution is concerned. The two words ‘per capita’ change all the equation.

India has many fast growing cities with burgeoning population like Pune (Pune’s population increases by more than half a lac every year), Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad etc. Nearly 500 vehicles are added every day. The debate on the issue of urbanization could involve arguments from science to philosophy. But the fact is that we are urbanizing at a fast pace and it is inevitable. India being a country with humble resources simply can not afford expansion of vehicles at these rates. The amount of fuel consumed the amount of on road space taken and the pollution is enormous. So the only solution is more and more people using public transport.

There is also a new concept called BRTS (bus rapid transport services). This is a project by government of India to be started in ten big cities. This concept includes a separate lane for public buses (they will be air condition buses!!) so that they can travel really fast. There will be a bus in every few minutes and the timing will be reliable because they are traveling without any obstruction like the metro rail of Delhi or the local trains of Mumbai. Bangalore has now a fantastic bus service and even the people going to air-port take public buses. I took a BRTS bus ride in Pune and it was really amazing to watch the bus overtake the cars in the side lanes. Another funny incidence which I observed was that a car which had illegally come in the bus lane got stuck behind the bus every time the bus stopped at a bus stand as it had no space to overtake. It must have been a lesson learnt the hard way for the driver.

Now I will explain the title of the article- the relation between flyovers and bears. The concept BRTS, is based on the strategy that we need to reduce the number of on road vehicles where as the flyovers are made to encourage new vehicles. It is based on the concept that we have to build new roads since vehicles are increasing but this is a successfully tried, tested and failed strategy. It has failed because the rate of growth of traffic is much more than the feasible rate of growth of roads. The BRTS system requires a huge amount of capital for buying buses and building lanes etc. There is enormous shortage of buses in Pune. A flyover costs nearly 50 crore rupees which could be used to buy new buses which means better public transport, which would lead to more people using it; hence lesser vehicles on road, lesser pollution, lesser global warming and more polar bears! There was a very famous incidence in Seoul where the common people broke a flyover. We need the same rage and vigour. Another suggested measure to get more money for more buses was to raise the bus fare. But we argued that why should the people who are taking the pain of walking from their houses to the bus stops and taking the public buses be penalized for doing something good. In fact, we argued that a part of cost involved in making flyovers should be used to reduce the bus fares. The solution is to charge more from the private vehicle owner- higher parking tickets is just one way to do it. The idea basically is to condemn all the policies which encourage private vehicles and encourage all policies which are in favour of public vehicles. So, the next time you are paying for your parking, do it gleefully, considering it a penance for committing the sin of using a private vehicle and causing so much extra pollution.

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I will now write something which might earn me a tag of a preacher. But frankly speaking I don’t care. I was watching the recent terrorist activities being covered on news channel with my friends. All of us were damn frustrated and after some discussion a question popped up-“How much have we done for our country?” The question has almost become a cliché but that does reduce the shallowness of the answers we have for it. “After having read in a heavily subsidized institution all we want is leave this country for a better salary.” The same friend said who had raised the question. But there is a lot we can do. In last three months I have bought about a dozen books from Crossword but I have never taken the polythene bag along with it. You can not carry a Kg of potato without a plastic bag but you can carry a book in your hand (you can make sure though that you carry a jute bag when you go to buy vegetables). The person with whom I am working (his name is Ranjit, and he is an IITian) always takes a bicycle where ever he has to go in the city (even for the above mentioned meeting, he had come by a bicycle). Nearly 33% population of Netherlands travels by bicycle. My experinece teaches me to have humble expectations and so I do not expect you to leave your cars and start ridig a cycle. But once in a while you can try the bus or if the distance is small use a cycle or walk. One can also use a Splendour instead of a Pulsar 220 which gives a lesser mileage.

Another thing you could do is forward this article to as many acquaintances as possible 

Pardon me for getting a little emotional in the end. But I guess only an emotional fool can waste two hours in writing such an article on a Sunday morning.


(Written on 30th November, 2008, Pune. )