Hi, I am Satya Arikutharam.

I work as an Independent Consultant in the transportation and urban

mobility sector. Today, I want to share a few of my thoughts on Governance.

I want you to ponder on these three questions: Why does our public transport operate in an
uncoordinated manner? Why are our footpaths in such an abysmal state? Why are cycle paths
nearly non-existent in our towns and cities? You may have several answers to this but the
underlying reason is simply lack of governance. A toxic combination of citizen apathy and
unaccountable administration has led us to this sorry state.

So what is governance? To me, it is facilitating constructive interactions between stakeholders

through defined accountable processes. Unfortunately we are nowhere near good governance in
public transport today. Why is it so? For far too long public transport has been operating in policy
confusion run by unprofessional resources operating with a sense of entitlement and the erosion
of capacity due to lack of timely investments.

The foundations of good governance cannot emerge from a vacuum; it emerges from societal
conversations with the businesses and government. In Karnataka, we are in the midst of such a
conversation and two fundamental foundational statutes are awaiting legislation. First is the
BMLTA Bill which will bring coordination to public transport and coherence to land use policies in
Bengaluru. The second statute awaiting legislation is the Active Mobility Bill which will bring
standards and accountability to the building and maintenance of footpaths, cycle paths, and
people-oriented streets. We hope these two legislations are passed soon.

But these legislations alone will not suffice. Good citizenship is a precondition for good
governance. We need constructive and robust debates that are conducted politely, but firmly to
ensure good governance. So, my request is: Stay alert and speak up strongly on the need for
good public transport. Wish you all a very Happy New Year.