Rakesh Mohan condemns ‘metro mania’ amongst urban transport policy makers and planners [July 2012]

Metro projects should be restricted to cities with over 5 million population and all urban transport costs should be borne by cities themselves through user charges and fiscal imports, said Rakesh Mohan, Chairman of the National Transport Development Policy Committee while inaugurating FICCI’s ‘India Urban Transport Summit-2012. Globally, metros were introduced in cities at much higher levels of per-capita income than India’s, he informed.
Decrying the ‘metro mania’ that has gripped urban transport policy planners, he said, “Metro and rail-based urban transport projects were the most capital intensive of options and may not necessarily be beneficial in terms of lifetime energy costs”.
An efficient, reliable and safe transport system is vital for fostering rapid economic growth. Despite significant development of all transportation modes over the decades, transport capacity has not developed adequately in the country. This has led to increasing congestion, asset deterioration and high levels of energy consumption, pollution and accidents. Moreover rural areas have inadequate connectivity hampering rural economic growth.
Emphasising the need for efficient demand management, Dr. Mohan recommends, “Levy a high parking fee for motorised vehicles that reflects the value of land occupied, allocation of parking space to public transport and non-motorised transport on priority, restricted parking on main transit corridors, alignment of road taxes and vehicle registration fees with actual costs of providing urban road infrastructure and resultant negative externalities”.
The way forward, he said was to strengthen the existing weak and fragmented institutional framework for urban transport, rethink land use to minimise transport demand, promote non-motorised vehicular transport, improve public transport such as bus services, metro, commuter rail and improve intermediate public transport systems
He said that at present planning and investment decisions were based on incomplete data and understanding with the result that the resultant infrastructure may not actually address multi-dimensional transport demands. “There is little understanding of how planned infrastructure will influence future land use and the shape of the city and such an approach may not lead to maximisation of social welfare or offer maximum economic value for money.”
Dr. Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, stressed the need for transport-oriented urban development as people should be able to commute 60-70 km for work. “Such development will lead to dispersal of industries”, he said.

2