‘Pedestrians remain a priority for us‘: Pune traffic deputy commissioner of police Vijaykumar Magar

On non-motorised transport policy

The futuristic non-motorised transport policy is one of the key elements of sustainable urban development. The pedestrian is one of the most important elements of this policy. So are cyclists. We are currently in a phase where the urban infrastructure is going through a major upgrade with the Pune Metro Rail and its allied infrastructure is under development. Once this upgrade is complete, the non-motorised transport coupled with public transport will be the favoured combination for a large chunk of the population.

On making the existing infrastructure safer

Making the existing infrastructure safer and more accessible for the citizens should be a priority. Because of the ongoing construction for Pune Metro, other infrastructure projects, footpaths have been removed and the carriage width of many roads has reduced, putting a strain on both vehicles and pedestrians alike.

In spite of this situation, our teams from individual traffic divisions are trying their best to ensure safe passage to both of them. The pedestrians will remain a priority for us.

‘The signals under the Smart City project are yet to be calibrated’

Currently, the process of calibrating the signal timings, including those for the pedestrians is on. All the signals under the Smart City project are yet to be calibrated. We have held meetings with Smart City officers for the signals under them. For the remaining signals under the PMC, there have been communications in the past.

We hope that there is action soon and sufficient pedestrian signal timings are calibrated as per the norms. We have also suggested that the pedestrian signals should be at proper heights for people on foot to see comfortably and not at the heights where signals for vehicles are located. Zebra crossings have a lot of issues at many traffic junctions. There is continuous follow up from our local traffic divisions in this regard with the PMC and other bodies. We have also observed that at many places, pedestrian underpasses and overbridges are not used by the people. Many instead choose to cross roads amidst flowing traffic.

Need for agencies to come together

For making the Pune roads safer and accessible for pedestrians, it is important that stakeholder government entities like traffic police, civic bodies, entities like Smart City, Pune Metro, infrastructure related entities like PWD, NHAI and most importantly, citizen groups will have to come together.

There will have to be concerted efforts on improving enforcement, road designs, road infrastructure like signals, zebra crossings, sidewalks, subways etc and for tasks like removing encroachments etc.

Pedestrian accidents

Data shared by traffic police suggests that as many as 105 pedestrian deaths were reported in Pune in 2022 of over 290 accidental deaths in Pune city. Officials say these deaths include cases where pedestrians were crossing the road and also those walking on the side of the roads. Traffic police officials said that there are around 275 traffic signals in the city of which around 125 fall under the Pune Smart City Project and Adaptive Traffic Management System.

12 reasons that make life difficult for pedestrians

The Indian Express spoke with officials from multiple traffic divisions who listed various factors that cause problems for pedestrians. Here are the following:

*Lack of proper sidewalks, footpaths, mid-way platforms for crossing, broken pavements, potholes, and uneven surfaces on footpaths

*Encroachments on sidewalks, dumping construction materials

*Poor Road Design, inadequate crosswalks, pedestrian signals, and proper signage

*Heavy traffic flow or traffic congestion

*Speeding Vehicles posing risk to pedestrians

*Lack of Zebra Crossings

*Inadequate Street Lighting

*Lack of pedestrian bridges and subways

*Lack of integration of non-motorized transport with public transport

*Illegal Parking on sidewalks and pedestrian paths

*Inadequate facilities for people with disabilities, elderly people

*Poorly maintained roadside drain, manholes