How protest at India Gate puts spotlight back to pollution and traffic woes

In a country like India, where urban population is rapidly growing and air pollution is continuously worsening, a well-planned and effective public transit network no longer remains optional. This urgency is echoed in the theme of World Public Transport Day – Connecting Communities, Reducing Emissions – which underscores the need to prioritise collective mobility solutions to mitigate the environmental impact of private vehicles. 

Observed annually on November 10 under the leadership of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), World Public Transport Day seeks to highlight the importance of sustainable, efficient and accessible transport systems for all.

On this day, it’s worth examining India’s public transport infrastructure, the government’s initiatives to strengthen and promote it, and the broader implications for urban and environmental sustainability. 

Rapid urbanisation and its impact 

India is one of the most rapidly urbanising nations in the world. The World Bank estimates that more than 40 per cent of India’s population (around 60 crore) will live in cities and towns by 2036. This figure is expected to rise to 50 per cent by 2050. 

Such rapid urbanisation will exert immense pressure on infrastructure, water resources, and air quality. Traffic congestion, which is already a major concern, is also expected to become worse. Hence, effective management of this urban transformation will be crucial to achieving the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. 

The establishment of a robust public transport network will play a key role in addressing these challenges and advancing Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), specifically target 11.2, which calls for access to safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all.

Public Transport must, therefore, be viewed not merely as a service but as a policy instrument that enables urban transformation and environmental preservation.  

Significance of public transport systems

The establishment of a well-planned, accessible, and affordable urban public transport network has a number of socioeconomic and environmental benefits:

Socioeconomic benefits: First, public transport has an equalising effect, as it provides the urban poor with affordable access to economic opportunities, healthcare, and education. 

Second, it helps decrease dependence on private vehicles, thereby easing traffic congestion and leading to considerable savings in fuel, time and the economic and healthcare costs associated with harmful effects of air and noise pollution. 

Third, it facilitates the policy of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which advocates the clustering of housing and employment around public transport hubs.

Environmental benefits: A shift from private vehicles to public transport can substantially reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions per capita. Furthermore, increasing reliance on public transport would be instrumental in bringing down particulate matter (PM 2.5) and smog, which would improve air quality. 

Public transport also promotes the optimal use of limited urban space, reduces the need for extensive parking areas, and road expansion. A robust transit system can be quickly adapted to meet emergency needs. For example, the recent decision by the Delhi Metro to add extra trips as part of the pollution control effort shows how public transport can serve as an effective response mechanism.

This brings attention back to the initiatives that the government has introduced to promote public transport. 

Initiatives to facilitate urban public transport

The government has introduced several initiatives to promote the use of public transportation, including:

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM): Launched in 2005, it was the first large-scale national initiative for urban modernisation, with clean urban transport as a key component. It provided funding for the procurement of more than 15,000 buses across cities, with a significant portion of them being CNG-powered, as well as a number of hybrid-electric and fully electric buses.

The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP): Announced in 2006, it addresses the issue of ‘billions of man-hours lost stuck in traffic’ and advocates a shift from a vehicle-centric to a people-centric approach, prioritising public transport, and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT), such as walking and cycling. It seeks to ‘ensure safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable, and sustainable’ urban mobility.

FAME I and II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles): The schemes have played a key role in the decarbonisation of the public transport fleet by incentivising the replacement of diesel buses with electric buses, thereby helping to address urban emissions and pollution. The schemes also helped lower operational costs for public transit operators by scaling up charging infrastructure. 

The Smart Cities Mission: Launched in 2015, this mission also has important components that promote urban public transport. Initiatives such as the establishment of Intelligent Transport Management Systems (ITMS), and the launch of the ‘One Nation, One Card’ initiative, which simplifies fare payment across different modes of public transport through National Common Mobility Card (NCMC).

What are the remaining challenges?

However, scaling up clean public transportation in India comes with its unique challenges. Firstly, large-scale public transit systems, such as metro networks and extensive bus fleets, require significant capital investment. 

Furthermore, the financial viability of such projects remains uncertain, with most State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) consistently incurring losses and relying on budgetary allocations for their day-to-day operations. 

Second, there is a lack of coordination among various transport authorities, including the metro administration, municipal corporations, and SRTUs, which causes discontinuities and last-mile connectivity gaps. 

Finally, there is an apparent infrastructure bias in policies, which have largely been focussed on accommodating private vehicles through the construction of flyovers, elevated corridors, and road-widening projects. This has often come at the expense of dedicated lanes and infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists, and buses, which affects the growth of efficient public transport. 

The resulting increase in vehicular traffic has added to the worsening problem of air pollution, which has necessitated steps like the recent restrictions on the entry of BS-III and BS-IV vehicles into the National Capital Region in an effort to tackle pollution.

Way forward

The development of an affordable, accessible, and well-connected public transportation system will require coordinated policy interventions. The establishment of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTAs) in all major cities, as envisioned in the JNNURM, would help bring city transportation under one umbrella and ensure integrated planning across various modes of transport. 

Policies that focus on eliminating gaps, particularly in first and last-mile connectivity via NMT modes can help ensure seamless travel experience. Moreover, to improve financial sustainability, innovative mechanisms like levying cess or types of congestion taxes – as seen in cities with world-class public transport networks like Singapore, Milan and Stockholm – could be considered to directly fund public transport development. 

Further, the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can enable dynamic route planning and real-time vehicle tracking, which would help in making public transport more efficient and appealing to commuters.

Beyond affordable transport infrastructure and technology, sustained awareness campaigns are crucial to bring about behavioural changes. Citizens must be well-informed about the economic, health, and environmental benefits of switching to public and NMT modes. 

A case in point is the campaign led by Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani, whose advocacy for free bus passes resonated widely with New Yorkers during his mayoral bid. This underlines that affordable public transport is in popular demand even in developed economies. 

With India’s burgeoning urban population and the worsening air pollution, a well-planned, effective public transit network is no longer optional. It will rather be a non-negotiable prerequisite for any successful Indian city and a key determinant of India’s progress towards sustainable, equitable, and efficient urbanisation.

Post read questions

How can India effectively manage its rapid urbanisation to ensure sustainable infrastructure, cleaner air, and reduced traffic congestion, while staying on course to become a developed nation by 2047?

Public Transport must be viewed not merely as a service but as a policy instrument that enables urban transformation and environmental preservation. Comment.   

What are the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of public transport systems? Discuss with examples. 

Evaluate the impact of the government’s initiatives like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in promoting the use of public transportation. 

(Kannan K is a Doctoral candidate at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad) 

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