How walkable are our cities?

Centre for Science and

Environment
New Delhi
June 12, 2009
1

..Why are we discussing walking

today?

Cost of inaction

2000-04: Delhi fought hard to get

breathing space
On fuel quality
Introduced low sulphur fuels and petrol with 1 per cent benzene
Mandated pre-mix petrol to two- and three-wheelers
On vehicle technology
Enforced Bharat staae II emissions standards in 2000, five years ahead of
schedule (BS III in 2005)
On alternative fuels
Implemented largest ever CNG programme
Largest ever public transport bus fleet on natural gas
Other measures
Capped the number of three-wheelers
Phased out 15 year old commercial vehicles
Strengthened vehicle inspection programme (PUC)
Efforts made to bypass transit traffic
Set up independent fuel testing laboratories to check fuel adulteration 4

Delhi got cleaner air: got health

benefits

Microgramme per cubic metre

PM10 at ITO Traffic Intersection

600

PM10 trend projection

pre Supreme Court
directions

PM10 trend March 98- Dec 05,

Post Supreme Court directions

500
400
300
200
100
0
5

Delhi: at risk of losing

gains
After a short respite the curve turns upward
2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

PM10 levels rising again

2007

120

60

NOx levels Rising steadily

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

60
0
Res. Areas

Ind. Areas
microgram/ cubic metre

microgram/ cubic metre

180

30

0
Res. Areas

Ind. Areas

Source: CPCB

2006

2007

India: Proliferating hotspots

Half of the cities are critically polluted due to high PM10, even NO2 is rising
in many of them a twin trouble
100%
90%
80%
70%
Critical
High
M oderate
Low

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

PM 10

SO2

NO2

Source: Estimated based on CPCB data,

comparison with residential area standard

Changing position of pollution hotspots

Rank

Annual
average
levels in
2004

Raipur

Ludhiana

Rajkot

283

256

220

Annual
average
levels in
2005

Ghaziabad

Gobindgarh

Ludhiana

339

241

233

Annual
average
levels in
2007

Annual
average
levels in
2006

Ludhiana

Ghaziabad

Gobindgarh

253
Gobindgarh

244

Ghaziabad

232

Khanna

215

251

229

Jalandhar

215

Raipur

203

Khanna

222

Ludhiana

211

Agra

206

Lucknow

192

Satna

213

Satna

206

Kanpur

186

Satna

190

Agra

205

Khurja

205

Satna

180

Kanpur

189

Lucknow

191

Agra

200

Ghaziabad

172

Jalandhar

187

Kanpur

184

Lucknow

189

Lucknow

169

Agra

183

Jalandhar

174
Firozabad

185

Kanpur

180

10

Jamshedpur

168

Jamshedpur

Source: Computed from the data provided by the CPCB

166

Noida

169

New generation challenge

Pollution, energy guzzling and warming

9
Source: KCAI ASIA 2008

Cities are Paralyzed

The Crawling Traffic
The average journey speed in Delhi (16 km/hr), Mumbai (16 km/hr) and Kolkata (18
km/hr): Abysmally poor compared to smaller cities

10
Source: Anon 2008, Study on traffic and transportation policies and Strategies in Urban Areas in India, MOUD, p63

Speed plummets
CRRI study on major arterial roads:
-- During the morning and evening peak -- 55-60 per cent of the
roads have travel speeds less than 30 kmph.
-- Even during off-peak hours 40-45 per cent of the roads have travel speeds less than 30
kmph.
-- About 20 per cent have travel speeds less than 20 kmph throughout the day.

>20
20-25
25-30
30-35
35-40
40-45
45-50
< 50

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
One way

Second way

Morning peak

One way

Second way

Evening peak

One way

Seco nd way

Off peak

Builiding up of
congestion is
reflected by
increase in low speed roads in
the city

11
Source: City Development Plan

Roads hitting dead end

14

30000

12

25000

10

20000

15000

Road length in kms

10000

Road length per 1000 vehicles

2005-06.

2004-05.

2003-04.

2002-03.

2001-02.

2000-01.

1999-00.

1998-99.

1997-98.

1996-97.

1995-96.

1994-95.

1993-94.

1990-91.

1980-81.

5000

12
Source: On the basis of Economic Survey, Delhi Govt

Road length per 1000 vehicles

35000

1971-72.

Road length in kms

Roads expansion cannot keep pace with rising number of vehicles

Delhi is already privileged to have more than 20 percent of its and
area under road network

Peak volume traffic has increased phenomenally

Nearly 123 per cent growth on many roads (in PCU/hour)

1990

2004

2000

4000

AIIMS to Dhola Kuan

B.S.Gurudwara to AIIMS
I.S.B.T. to B.S.Gurudwara
Azadpur to I.S.B.T.
Raja Garden to Azadpur
Dhola Kuan to Raja Garden
0

6000

8000

10000 12000 14000 16000

PCU per hour

13
Source: Based on City Development Plan of Delhi, 2006, Eco Smart

Reinvent Mobility

Stunning data..

70

Values in Percentage

60

2001
(2007 - 2008)

50
40
30
20
10

All trips

Cycle Rickshaw

Bicycle

Train (IR)

Metro

Bus

Auto Rickshaw

Two Wheeler

Car/taxi

Walk

Cycle Rickshaw

Bicycle

Train (IR)

Metro

Bus

Auto Rickshaw

Two Wheeler

Car/taxi

Only Vehicular Trips

15
Source: RITES
Source: Anon 2008, transport demand forecast study: study and development of an integrated cum multi modal public transport network for NCT of Delhi, RITES, MVA Asia Ltd, TERI, September

How many people walk in other cities?

Modal share of walking in key cities of India

Percentage walking
Cities classified according to population

< 5 lakh population (plain terrain)

34

< 5 lakh population (hill terrain)

57

5- 10 lakh poplutation

32

10-20 lakh population

24

20-40 lakh population

25

40-80 lakh population

25

> 80 lakh population

22

National

28

16
Source: MoUD 2008
Source: Anon 2008, transport demand forecast study: study and development of an integrated cum multi modal public transport network for NCT of Delhi, RITES, MVA Asia Ltd, TERI, September

We built walkable cities.

Kolkata

17

Urban form and sustainability

Dense growth helps

Delhi

Kolkata

Bangalore

Mumbai

-- High density, mixed land use, and narrow streets make our cities walkable
-- In a typical city the core can just be 5 km across and easily walkable within a
reasonable time.
-- Studies show more than 40 to 50 per cent of the daily trips in many of our
cities have distances less than 5 kilometers.
-- These have enormous potential to convert to walking and non-motorised
trips.
18
Source: Urban age

19
Source: Dr M K Chong, Singapore 2008, BAQ

Who walks in our cities?

Walking for work, education and services..

Of all education trips 58% walk trips
Service and business trips 31% walk trips (RITES 2001)
Walking and urban poor.
About 60% of people live in low income localities. An earlier estimate shows 22% of
people with less than Rs 2000/month income walk in Delhi. Moving slums out to periphery
had sharply reduced women employment as accessibility became a problem

Disability and walking

Samarthyam survey: 58% of the disabled found steps, ramps, difficult to negotiate; 45%
of elderly found steps and ramps daunting; 20%found uneven, narrow sidewalks
difficult. Engineering guidelines for disables are not implemented

Urbanity and life style

Corelation between active transportation (walking and cycling) and obesity: China
1.8kg weight gain after and twice as likely to get obese for a Chinese who acquired a
car. King County, US people weigh 7 pounds less on an average in walkable
neighbourhoods
20

High risk group

Unacceptably high accident rates..

Total number of road accidents are very high in Delhi
2.5 times higher than that of Kolkata, 2.1 times higher
than Chennai personal vehicles cause most of these
accidents.
Nearly half of fatal accidents in Delhi involve
pedestrians

21

We took a walk
We organised random survey to assess the state of walking facilities,
walking environment, exposure to traffic and safety.
We walked through.
-- The dedicated pedestrian path along the bus rapid transit corridor
(Ambedkar Nagar to Chirag Delhi)
-- Connuaght Place, the central business district
-- Interstate Bus Terminus, an important interchange point
-- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a sensitive area
-- Lajpat Nagar, prominent commercial area.
-- Residential colonies of Patparganj, Chittaranjan Park and Alaknanda.
-- Delhi Haat, a recreational site.
-- Nehru Place another commercial area
-- Seelampur Zaffrabad, and Govindpuri -- low income neighbourhoods
Volunteers participated .
We have also guaged Perception of pedestrians.

22

What have we found..

23

Pedestrian walkway in BRT corridor

best amongst all .
-Well designed and well surfaced.
- Minimum width 1.5 metre -- goes upto 3.5 meter
to 4 meters
- Sidewalks easily negotiable by women, children
and senior citizens
- Disabled friendly
- Relatively clean, well maintained, and
continuous.
- At-grade-crosswalk facilities with zebra crossings
and pelican signals
- Intersections are well designed and paved with
speed tables for traffic calming
- Crossings are easily accessible with kerbed
ramps.
- At grade crossings comfortable for old, disabled
and visually impaired.

It is still short of the best benchmark as problems

with cross walk facilities have persisted eg
pelican signal malfunctioning; increased waiting
time for pedestrians, auditory signal inaudible..
24

Residential colonies rank poor

Patparganj: Highly encroached, dirty and unsafe

Pedestrians wriggle their way through the fast moving traffic.
Zebra crossings have faded
There are stretches without footpaths and that too adjacent to a
school.
The areas demarcated for the pedestrians are unpaved that force 25
people to walk in conflict with the motorized traffic.

Neighbourhoods of poor people

Captive pedestrians but suffer worst infrastructure

Govindpuri and Zaffrabad: Traffic and people on collision course..

- Discontinuous, poorly paved footpaths, and not easily accessible

- Height and width of pavements violate norms
- Poor signages, no pedestrian refuge islands -- crosswalk are ordeal
- No kerbed ramps or blended crossings to access the crosswalk facilities
- Exposure to traffic very high.

26

Indian style socialism

Aurangzeb Road and Govindpuri

We have counted 3 persons per 10 minutes in Aurangzeb Road
and 100 person per five minutes in Govindpuri
Urban planning does not keep people in focus
27

We have seen improvement as well..

Janpath: congenial pedestrian ambience

R K Marg: Walkable

Connaught Place
Rebuilding and redesigning of pedestrian path has begun in some
stretches..
28

Retrofitting change but problem persist

After thought. But helps

Zebra crossing hits roadblock

.Connaught Place
Older pavements remodelled to make them pedesrian friendly
29

Hospitals: Sensitive area

AIIMS

Before

After

Design of sidewalks near AIIMS has improved

But cloverleaf flyover has disrupted at-grade continuity, increased walking distance for the
ailing visitors using public transport
At least in one direction use of subway is unavoidable
But these are not handicap friendly and are without supportive tools
Cloverleaf has completely severed neighbourhood, increased walking distance, disrupted
30
direct shortest route

Unusable infrastructure: Wasteful

Guidelines of Indian Road

Congress are outdated and
inadequate
Eg. In the absence of
proper guidelines on height
of pavements, unacceptably
high pavements without
proper gradients are being
made..

31

No one thinks of disable

Narrow uneven sidewalks, high kerbs, steps, make

sidewalks unusable for people with impairments
Only in the BRT corridor disable friendly features have
been introduced.

32

Walkways motorised.

Cars taking over the legitimate space of walkers

33

Jay walking.rampant

Sai Chowk, Patparganj

Scindia House, CP

Seamless and signal free traffic is interrupting shortest direct route for
pedestrians. This is inciting jay walking
34

Highly encroached.

Mother dairy, Patparganj: Highly encroached, dirty and

unsafe

35

User survey brings out disenchantment..

Main complaints -- uneven surface, potholes, obstruction, urinals, height of

the pavement, fear of tripping, not enough pace in sidewalks ...

Pedestrians on BRT lane are happy with sidewalks.. have commented how36
their daily drudgery of walking has changed

Pedestrian plan needs linkage with public transport

plan.

In ISBT we have seen direct walkway connection between bus

station and metro station..
Need detailed guidelines for siting of bus stations, interchange
points
37

Anger in cities

As skywalks and flyovers take over .angry protests

begin in our cities
-- Right To Walk campaigns in Hyderabad, Chennai.
Angst against sky walks in Mumbai

Whither policy..
38

Surprises
There are policies and lawsbut dont help
National level
National Urban transport policy: Advisory
JNNURM CDPs can be effective instruments.
City levelmany rules converge
-- CMVR safety rules -- passive protection: but says motorist cannot enter
pedestrian way. Liable to penalty. Not enforced
--Indian Penal Code (sec 283), sec 34 of Delhi Police Act -- obstruction in
public space punishable
-- Urban street vendor policy, 2007, to protect livelihood rights Guidelines
for proper vending zones. They are service providers on footpaths
-- Master Plan 2021 provides for pedestrian facilities
-- Police Act provides for penalty for jaywalking
-- Design and engineering guidelines (IRC) outdated.
-- Disabilities Act 1995 (Sec 44) guidelines for disable. Not enforced

But these rules dont add up to allow stringent enforcement.

People are not included in decision on pedestrian space.There is39no
impact assessment of road infrastructure

Fundamental concern -- Pedestrian

space does not have legal protection

Pedestrian space is
chipped away arbitrarily
-- without consulting
people

Yusuf Sarai near AIIMS, space usurped

40

Learning from others

What other governments are doing..
Setting legal framework: Laws to pedestrianise as well as to reduce traffic volumes.
-- London, Road Traffic Reduction Act allows authorities to pedestrianise and reduce traffic
levels or their rate of growth in a particular area to reduce congestion and improve air quality.
-- San Francisco has enforced Better Street Policy. New York city is promoting pedestrian
infrastructure.
-- In Auckland The Land Transport (Road Users) Rule stops motorists from stopping, or
parking on a footpath and give right of way to pedestrians etc.

Creating pedestrian space: Many US and European cities are creating walkable
neighbourhoods and fully pedestrian spaces. Copenhagen has done extensive
pedestrianisation. So has Kaufingerstrafe in Munich, Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Zurich and
Oxford streets. Buenos Aires, Curitiba, Sai Paolo, Shanghai have begun to create car free
shopping streets. Studies show pedestrianisation of shopping areas has positive effects on
sales. European Charter for Pedestrian Rights

Traffic calming measures

Car free housing and car free centres
Smart growth approaches and home zones

41

Our emerging policy opportunities.

National level
JNNURM programmes can be leveraged to influence CDPs and mandate
pedestrian infrastructure and link with public transport plan This has made a
difference in Nanded. Also CDPs of Delhi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad,
and Bangalore have proposed pedestrian schemes
JNNURM support for BRT projects in cities is another opportunity
Climate change mitigation efforts will help---- Urban Habitat Mission of Ministry of Urban Development
-- Government of India proposal to Global Environment Facility (GEF) for climate
mitigation. Proposed projects include non-motorised transport and pedestrian
facility for Hyderabad, Pune, Ajmer-Pushkar, Jalandhar, Thiruvananthapuram
In Delhi
Framing of UTTIPEC guidelines for pedestrians in Delhi underway and expected
to be issued before the Commonwealth Games.
Investment planned for Commonwealth Games
Reforms of guidelines for urban roads

42

Way forward.
Harmonise existing laws
Legislate right to walk: Should we have comprehensive road users act?
Make pedestrian plans mandatory to infrastructure funding
Reform and mandate guidelines for pedestrian infrastructure
Urban local bodies must conduct walkability audits
Public transport plan needs linkage with pedestrian plan
Commonwealth Games projects to rebuild pedestrian space in Delhi
Need zero tolerance policy for accidents
Involve communities on decisions on use of road space
Adopt traffic volume reduction plan
Small and medium towns need special attention

43

Can we continue to rely on this

system?

Thank You

44

Good bad ugly..

Moderate

Good

Engineering, Environment and Traffic

Variables Together

BRT corridor

Cannaught Place
Lajpatnagar
ISBT with metro rail link
Patparganj

Poor

Chitranjan Park and Alkananda

area
AIIMS and Delhi Hat
Nehru Place

Very Poor

Seelampur and Zaffrabad

Govindpuri
Mother dairy

45
0

Good bad ugly..

Environmental variables

Good

BRT corridor

Good

BRT corridor

Moderate

ISBT w ith metro rail

link

Moderate

Engineering variables

Cannaught Place
Lajpatnagar

Cannaught Place

Patparganj

Lajpatnagar

Nehru Place
Poor

Chitranjan Park and

Alkananda area
Patparganj

ISBT w ith metro rail link

AIIMS and Delhi Hat

Seelampur and
Zaffrabad

Seelampur and Zaffrabad

Nehru Place
Very Poor

Poor

Chitranjan Park and Alkananda area

AIIMS and Delhi Hat

Mother dairy

Govindpuri

Govindpuri
Mother dairy

46

Good bad ugly..

Traffic Variables

Good

BRT corridor
Cannaught Place

Moderate

ISBT with metro rail link

Patparganj
Lajpatnagar
Chitranjan Park and Alkananda area

Poor

AIIMS and Delhi Hat

Govindpuri
Nehru Place

Very Poor

Mother dairy

Seelampur and Zaffrabad

0

47

Good bad ugly..

Crosswalk Facility
BRT corridor

BRT corridor
Moderate

Moderate

Good

Sidewalk Facility

Cannaught Place

ISBT with metro rail link

Cannaught Place
Lajpatnagar

ISBT with metro rail link

Lajpatnagar

Chitranjan Park and Alkananda area

Patparganj

Patparganj
Poor

Poor

Chitranjan Park and Alkananda area

Nehru Place

Nehru Place

AIIMS and Delhi Hat

Seelampur and Zaffrabad

Seelampur and Zaffrabad

Govindpuri

Mother dairy
Very Poor

Very Poor

AIIMS and Delhi Hat

Mother dairy
0

Govindpuri
0

48