Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager
Mumbai’s commuter woes are as oft discussed as scores to the latest cricket match. They are griped about daily and exchanged with fervor. Gridlock, overcrowded trains, non-existent east-west routes dominate the discussion and so do the controversial solutions on the table: sealinks, flyovers, monorails. Transportation activists such as Rishi Aggarwal, a research fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and member of the Mumbai Transport Forum (MTF), says that one of the major issues is that there is no integrated approach to planning, leaving commuters with ad hoc, disconnected systems.
Yet a solution from Chennai offers a comprehensive example for Mumbai on how to move toward sustainable, comprehensive mobility. In August, Shreya Gadepalli, of the Institute for Transportation Development Policy (ITDP), presented her work with a new initiative, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), at the ORF to share the progress Chennai has made and how it might apply to Mumbai.
Importantly, CUMTA members include a cross-section of all different government authorities responsible for transportation, centralizing collaborative decision-making to move the organization’s goal forward. And the goal is ambitious: to achieve a modal shift away from car-centric transport to public transport, focusing on walking and cycling as dominant modes.
CUMTA held a workshop in January 2013 to move forward its efforts. The members divided into four working groups, focusing on:
- CUMTA as an agent of change
- Developing an integrated, high quality bus and BRT network for Chennai
- Improving streets and public realm
- Management of road space and travel demand
Since then, the group has already taken important steps to reclaim road space for pedestrians where there was little or none in the past. In fact, a large-scale cycle network strategy is part of the plan. The main cycle path will take advantage of Chennai’s seaside location, stretching for miles up the coast with connecting points to many neighborhoods and the stations along the way. There will be an extensive cycle-sharing program with less than a 300-meter walk to a cycle sharing station in the network.
“We are always keen to learn from New York and London, so for a change, we will learn from Chennai,” says Aggarwal, who has also founded the Walking Project in Mumbai to promote better walking conditions and sidewalks in the city.
One of the biggest achievements from Chennai, says Gadepalli, who emphasizes that there is “nothing on the ground to show right now,” is that there is a consensus from the highest levels in the city on implementing more sustainable approaches: “If you speak to people, there is a sea change in how they perceive things. If you go and ask anyone, the only thing they are talking about these days is how to create better facilities for pedestrians and improving public transport.”
To watch Shreya Gadepalli’s full presentation, click here.
Photo credit: Satish Krishnamurthy