Need to prioritise those on foot, not the ones in cars, say experts
LET’S WALK Experts weigh in on some key aspects agencies should consider for the ‘walkability policy’
Adhchini on Aurobindo Marg, Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place and Karol Bagh. To make all these plans work, experts identified five key issues which all stakeholders will have to ensure.
ENFORCEMENT
For Subhash Chand, head of traffic engineering and safety division at Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), walking in Delhi is synonymous to walking in an unknown “jungle”, thanks to rampant encroachment. “The biggest problem peculiar to Delhi is encroachment which goes on unabated. Anti-encroachment drives are so sporadic that in just 2-3 days the vendors or the illegal parkings return. The year 2018 is the perfect example of this. MCDS and traffic police conducted drives after drives, but the same areas remain clogged,” he said.
“There are footpaths which have electrical poles in the middle. Crossings now lead to Metro pillars. All these need basic communication between stakeholders,” he said.
TRANSIT POINTS
According to a traffic police study, of the 1,510 people who died in road accidents in 2017, at least 44% were pedestrians. Experts said a large number of pedestrian deaths occur when a commuter either is getting down from a vehicle or is trying to board one.
“There have been so many accidents where a commuter is killed while getting down from a bus and trying to cross a road,” said Piyush Tewari, founder and CEO of road safety NGO, Save Life Foundation. He suggested that ‘speed-calming’ measures such as rumble strips and grooving on roads be mandatorily built at transit points. Approach paths to bus stops should have this.
SEGREGATION
Tewari said the policy should address the practice prevalent in Delhi where trucks and buses are given the same side of the road (left) as pedestrians and cyclists.
“Agencies should take a cue from their own experience — the 15-day Kanwar Yatra. It is the perfect example of how much priority pedestrian pathways needs to be given in Delhi. Their entire route is segregated from the main carriageway, which leads to minor traffic. But, the same thing if planned with proper engineering can be a good long-term solu- tion,” he said.
SUBWAYS, BRIDGES SHOULD BE LAST RESORT
According to Sanjay Gupta, head (transport and planning), School Planning and Architecture (SPA), agencies should focus on the basics first — creating continuous and obstruction free footpaths. “Footpaths and pedestrian crossings should be made more attractive with bright paintings and signage... There are enough studies to prove that people prefer surface walking facilities over climbing up a foot over bridge or down to a subway, building which are way costlier,” he said.
DEDICATED DEPT FOR WALKABILITY
Chennai, the first city in India to have a non-motorised transport (NMT) policy, has made it mandatory that 60% of its transport budget will be spent on promoting NMT. Shreya Gadepalli, South Asia Programme Lead at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which collaborated with the Greater Chennai Corporation, said Delhi should do something similar.“all local bodies, roadowning agencies should have a fund dedicated to ensuring that the area under their jurisdiction is walkable. Without that, agencies would continue to focus only on increasing the road space for vehicles,” she said.