SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT PLANNING

SUBMITTED BY :MOHIT PANCHAL (15001515006)

RIYA MAJOKA (15001515013)MCREM

Content 1. Introduction

2. Goals

3. Essential Ingredient

4. Themes & Principle

5. Sustainable Transportation Performance indicator

6. Towards sustainable transportation in India

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION The concept of sustainable transportation promotes a balance between transportation’s economic and social benefits and the need to protect the environment.

In further articulating this idea, the Centre for Sustainable Transportation has defined a sustainable transportation system as one that:

• Allows individuals and societies to meet their access needs safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and with equity within and between generations

• Is affordable, operates efficiently, offers choice of transport mode, and supports a vibrant economy

•Limits emissions and waste within the planet’s ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of non-renewable resources, limits consumption of renewable resources to the sustainable yield level, reuses and recycles its components, and minimizes the use of land and the production of noise

GOALS

•Transport system diversity: Travellers can choose from various modes, location and pricing options,

particularly ones that are affordable, healthy, efficient, and accommodate non-drivers.

• System integration: The various components of the transport system are well integrated, such as

pedestrian and cycling access to transit, and integrated transport and land use planning.

•Affordability: Affordable transport options provide access to lower-income households.

• Resource (energy and land) efficiency: Policies encourage energy and land efficiency.

• Efficient pricing and prioritization: Road, parking, insurance and fuel are priced to encourage

efficiency, and facilities are managed to favour higher value trips and more efficient modes.

• Land use accessibility (smart growth): Policies support compact, mixed, connected, multi-modal

land use development in order to improve land use accessibility and transport options.

• Operational efficiency: Transport agencies, service providers and facilities are managed efficiently

to minimize costs and maximize service quality.

• Comprehensive and inclusive planning: Planning is comprehensive, and inclusive.

Sustainable Transport Goals

Essential Ingredients of Sustainable Transport

There are four essential ingredients of sustainable transport:

1. Comprehensive mobility plan for the city 2. Compact city so that it is NMT and PT friendly

3. PT system to be citywide, multimodal & integrated 4. Interchanges with minimum time penalty

1. Comprehensive city mobility plan• Urban transport has nearly 20 components that can be categorised into three groups, i.e., modes of

transport, infrastructure, and related activities. Modes are buses, paratransit, autos, taxis, goods vehicles,

NMT and personal vehicles. Infrastructure includes roads network, intersections, bridges, by-passes,

terminals, interchanges, parking, pedestrian/ bicycle facilities and bus priority schemes, with dedicated

pathways and terminals for water and rail transit.

• Related activities include traffic management, enforcement, training of drivers, licensing and transport

demand management measures. All these features must be planned, implemented for full benefit.

2. Compact city• NMT are short distance modes of transport.• PT requires concentrated demand to remain financially viable.• NMT and PT are sustainable modes and a compact city which will promote both is thus preferable to an

urban sprawl.

3. City-wide public transport systemA commuter needs to be assured that he can complete his entire journey by PT. Therefore the PT system has to be city-wide. It is often the worry over the last mile that makes a commuter use his personal vehicleover PT. Hence, PT planning should be “door to door”. Stations and stops should be conveniently and safely accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. This will promote the use of PT and improve its financial viability and sustainability.

4. Interchanges with minimum time penaltyUrban agglomerations usually do not permit point-to-point transport services. Therefore, most commuters will need to change modes. Interchanges should enable commuters to do so conveniently and with minimum time penalty, contributing to seamless travel. Designing efficient interchanges is as important as planning an integrated multimodal PT system.

Themes and principles for sustainable transportation planning

A) Transportation and community sustainability

Principle 1 Integrated transportation & land use planning Principle 2 Protect environmental health Principle 3 Incorporate social objectives Principle 4 Support economic development

B) A transportationsystem perspective

Principle 5Take a strategic approachPrinciple 6Consider all modesPrinciple 7Manage transportation demandPrinciple 8Manage transportation supply

C) The way ahead

Principle 9Provide implementation guidancePrinciple 10Provide financial guidancePrinciple 11Measure performancePrinciple 12Create a living plan withpublic involvement

Principle 1 - Integrate transportation and land use planning• Conduct transportation planning and land use planning concurrently, to accommodate the effects of land use

on transportation demand and supply, as well as the effects of Transportation systems on the demand for, and patterns of, land development.

• Use transportation plan policies to encourage supportive land use form and design (e.g. compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly).

Principle 2 - Protect environmental health• Recognize ways that transportation systems can help achieve environmental goals, and provide support

in the plan’s strategic directions.• Use environmental criteria (e.g. emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, consumption of

non-renewable resources) in the strategic evaluation of alternative land use or transportation scenarios.

Principle 3 - Incorporate social objectives• Recognize ways that transportation systems can help achieve social goals, and provide support in the

plan’s strategic directions.• Identify strategies to maximize access to opportunity for disabled and low-income persons, recent

immigrants, youth and the elderly, such as by reducing the need to travel and improving transit.• Identify strategies to provide access and mobility for persons with disabilities, such as by making transit

and pedestrian infrastructure barrier free.

Principle 4 - Support economic development• Recognize ways that transportation systems can support economic development, and provide support in the

plan’s strategic directions.• Identify strategies to support effective and efficient goods movement to and from major gateways (e.g. ports,

airports, border crossings) and in key corridors.

Principle 5 - Take a strategic approach• Establish a comprehensive strategic framework with a vision, goals and other

elements, and clearly show linkages to other community goals.• Consider alternative futures for land use and transportation systems, and

evaluate their requirements and implications.

Principle 6 - Consider all modes• Identify strategies to increase walking, cycling, transit, ridesharing and

teleworking.• Identify strategies to make transit operations more sustainable.• Identify strategies to make motor vehicle use more sustainable (e.g. incident

management, signal optimization, traveller information).• Identify strategies to achieve transportation goals through parking management.

Principle 7 - Manage transportation demand• Place strategic priority on transportation demand management (TDM) as a complement to managing

transportation supply.• Identify strategies for a range of TDM approaches in areas that include development approvals, pricing,

incentives and outreach.

Principle 8 - Manage transportation supply• Identify strategies to maximize the multimodal capacity of current infrastructure

(e.g. transit priority, access management).• Identify strategies to manage recurring and nonrecurring congestion.• Identify strategies to manage transportation assets (e.g. maintenance, repair,

rehabilitation, renewal)

Principle 9 - Provide implementation guidance• Identify a long-range implementation strategy that is based on desired outcomes and explains keyfacility, service, program and policy priorities.• Identify a short-term implementation strategy that prescribes early actions to build momentum andlay the foundation for long-term change.

Principle 10 - Provide financial guidance• Identify expected future transportation revenues and capital and operating costs (including thecost of programs, services, fleets, facility construction and maintenance).• Identify options for overcoming funding gaps.• Identify principles for balanced spending to maximize results from available funds.

Principle 11 - Measure performance• Highlight the need for a performance measurement program to monitor progress toward planning goals.• Identify a performance measurement framework that is tied to the plan’s strategic framework and monitors

outputs, outcomes and external influences.• Identify a reporting strategy to effectively communicate performance measurement results.

Principle 12 - Create a living plan with public involvement• Involve the public in the transportation planning process, and identify ways for public involvementto enhance future program and project implementation.• Identify a process for regular updates to the implementation program, as an extension of the plan.

Sustainable Transportation Performance Indicators

Towards Sustainable Urban Transport in India

Growth of urban transport along a sustainable path in cities is the foremost need of the hour; local pollution is a health hazard and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are a global issue. The present urban transport scene in India, in general, is quite unsustainable; the use of cars and two-wheelers is rising, public transport (PT is inadequate, while walking and cycling are becoming less popular.

COMPLEXITY OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION

Mumbai Suburban Rail

Indigenous public transport

India is a very large country with over a billion people and nearly 50 of its cities contain populations above 1 million each. Most cities, it appears, are not aware about the role and importance of urban transport. While large cities have initiated steps, many more cities have not realised the unsustainability of present trends in urban transport growth. India, thus, needs a wide range of strategies to achieve sustainable urban transport.

By 2051, the population of India is expected to be 1.7 billion. The number of cities with population of more than 50 million people is expected to double. There will be 15 cities with populations in excess of 10 million each and 85 cities with populations between 1 and 10 million each. That is the challenge India is faced with.

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Towards Sustainability

To promote sustainable transport, the Government of India has taken six significant steps:

1. Finalised and issued the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in 2006

2. Initiated demonstration projects with Global Environment Facility (GEF)

3. Strengthening the institutional set up

4. Initiating an ambitious capacity building programme

5. Support to improve both road and rail based mass rapid transit (MRT) facilities

6. Making emission norms increasingly stringent and improving quality of fuels

National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP)The main aim of NUTP is to promote sustainable transport in cities in India. Its main thrust is to:• Bring about a more equitable allocation of road space with people, rather than vehicles, as the main focus• Encourage greater use of PT and non motorised modes of transport (NMT) which include walking, cycling and cycle rickshaw• Establish multi-modal integrated PT systems • Address concerns of road safety, and• Reduce pollution through changes in travel habits

Initiated demonstration projects with Global Environment Facility (GEF) The Government of India with the help of GEF, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, has started implementing demonstration projects to encourage implementation of the NUTP. The project is estimated to cost about US$375 million with US$150 million coming from the Government of India, State Governments, and the participating cities. The project will be implemented over a four-year period and has two main components:Component 1: National Capacity Development InitiativesComponent 2: Demonstration Urban Transport Projects in five selected cities

Strengthening the institutional set up – Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA)The current institutional set up is weak. Nearly 20 components of urban transport are managed by as many agencies without any significant coordination. Efforts have been made for the last 30 years to have a dedicated authority for urban transport, particularly in large cities. With the start of the “Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission” (JNNURM) in 2007, the Government has tied the release of its financial assistance to cities that implement various policy reforms, including the setting up of a UMTA. As a result, 14 cities are at various stages of setting up UMTA and also a specialist agency to provide technical support to UMTA.

Capacity building programmeThe Government has taken note that the prevailing skills in cities in respect of urban transport are lacking. Accordingly, it has worked out a scheme to upgrade not only staff and institutional skills in cities, but also to provide the cities with other relevant professional support. This scheme has the following main components:1. Training of 2,500 city/state staff over a period of five years 2. An academic programme to create a pool of skilled manpower to enable cities to recruit qualified professionals

3. Dissemination of information through newsletters, journals, setting up a “Knowledge Management Centre” and conferences4. Organising legal and administrative frameworks5. Development of manuals, codes and standards on various urban transport topics6. Development of national level consultancy institutions7. Arranging for safety certification of Guided Urban Transit Systems (GUTS)

MRT and NMTMRT systems are the backbone of the city PT system and an essential feature of sustainable transport. Similarly, NMT are the most environment friendly and sustainable modes of urban transport. Presently, however, MRT and NMT facilities in Indian cities are inadequate both in quality and quantity. The Government of India, therefore, is financially supporting MRT and NMT projects in Indian cities.

Emission normsEmission norms for new vehicles were introduced in the year 1991. These have been gradually tightened and Bharat Stage IV norms for fuels and vehicles came into force from 1 April 2010 in 13 cities. Similarlythe Government of India has tightened the emission level of CO2 and introduced the measurement of HC emissions in petrol vehicles. With respect to diesel vehicles, oil temperature and RPM measurement have been included in the test procedures. Two-stroke engines are being replaced with four-stroke engines. The excise duty on big cars and sports and multi-utility vehicles has been raised by 2%.

Case study: Delhi SituationDelhi has nearly 6.1 million vehicles, mostly cars and two-wheelers. Delhi has taken action in nearly all areas to control air pollution over the past decade; 15-year-old commercial vehicles 2are off the road and transit freight traffic passing through Delhi is restricted. Nearly 300,000 buses, three-wheelers and a great number of taxis and private cars run on CNG.

Other steps include pollution checks, public awareness, the use of catalytic converters and phasing out of old vehicles. Last year, nearly 0.3 million vehicles were checked and most had ‘pollution under control’ certificates. PT is being augmented by the Metro and buses, while NMT has been promoted by upgrading pedestrian and bicycle paths. In the context of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, infrastructure has been upgraded through the construction of flyovers and bridges, road widening, junction and corridor improvements, street-scaping, installation of new street lights and signage, and the construction of new parking sites. This will provide long term benefits to the city.

Conclusion

The urban population in India has increased significantly from 62 million in 1951 to 285 million in 2001 and is estimated to grow to around 540 million by the year 2021. In terms of percentage of total population, the urban population has gone up from 17% in 1951 to 29% in 2001 and is expected to increase up to around 37% by the year 2021. Consequently, the number and size of cities have also increased considerably. Although circumstances differ considerably across cities in India, certain basic trends which determine transport demand (such as substantial increase in urban population, household incomes, and industrial and commercial activities) are the same. These changes have placed heavy demands on urban transport systems, a demand that many Indian cities have been unable to meet.

The need of the hour is formulation of an urban transport strategy that is both pragmatic and holistic in its approach.

REFERENCES

• Developing Indicators for Sustainable and Livable Transport Planning, Todd Litman

• Integrating Sustainability into the Transportation Planning Process, Baltimore

• Towards Sustainable Urban Transport in India, B.I. SINGAL

• Achieving sustainable transportation system for Indian cities – problems and issues, Ashish Verma, S. Sreenivasulu and N. Dash

• Strategies for sustainable transportation planning, TAOC

• www.tac-atc.ca