India@75: Need for safe & sustainable public transport

With celebrations and chants of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, India is celebrating 75 years of its independent existence. Cities have undergone some crucial transformations in this period, related to civic services, housing, commercial infrastructure, transport, etc. Modes of transport, in cities, have undergone major changes in these 75 years of India’s journey. In 1950-51, the Indian Railways transferred 66 billion passenger kilometres, which has increased to the size of more than 2300 billion passenger kilometres in 2021, as per the data from Statista.
The rapid and relentless growth of urban population has amplified the need for better and affordable public transport. People began moving to cities for better livelihood and other opportunities, and thus facilitated the growth of local public transit modes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic induced some significant changes in the transit structure of the country, as the usage of private transport surged in comparison to public modes due to COVID-protocols. The passenger traffic of Mumbai locals which was more than 80 lakh per day in pre-COVID times, took a hit and fell to just 30 lakh passengers per day in 2021, as per the official data.
This is not just the case with train travel; other modes of public transit such as buses, and metros also experienced a serious decline in terms of usage during and after the pandemic. As per a study by The Energy and Resource Institute based on a survey of 51 cities, 35 per cent of people living in cities are likely to change their mode of transport for work. This shows that the urban population is sceptical about using public transport mainly due to its unhygienic condition and overcrowding.
Even with challenges, public transport has been the backbone of affordable and most used transit mode in India. However, even after 75 years of growth and development in cities, availability of public transit options still remains a major issue in the country. Some of the major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are at the bottom of the table when it comes to its availability. As per the Ease of Living Index, 2020, Delhi is among the worst cities in terms of availability of public transport with a value of 1688.50 per lakh population (PLP), followed by Navi Mumbai with 2037.81 PLP, Pune with 2585.54 PLP and Bengaluru with 4409.62 PLP. This trend is worrisome, as these cities are among the major centres of economic, technological and
infrastructural growth.
India has come a long way. In 1958, there were just 4,95,000 registered vehicles in the country and its economic journey had just begun. In 2018, the number stood at 7,45,02,000 and there is no stopping. There is a need for local governments to promote the usage of public transport, which can seriously bring down the congestion in cities as well as reduce the pollution levels. Cities like Chennai (92,017 PLP) and Visakhapatnam (21,212 PLP) present an example for other Indian cities to learn and implement, and provide safe, healthy, inclusive and sustainable public transport.