‘Delhi must revisit traffic plans in wake of Covid-19’
NEW DELHI: The Covid-19 global crisis has undone many things in many places. In Delhi it has undone plans to decongest roads, among other things. Planners and traffic experts believe that there is a need to return to the drawing board to understand the new travelling patterns in the city and the new challenges in their wake.
For the last instalment of this series, HT spoke to traffic experts, researchers and senior police officers to understand how various aspects of travelling have changed since the pandemic hit, and how the city can reinvent strategies so that private vehicles don’t dominate road traffic.
Study congestion patterns
Transport experts said that, in the last year since the pandemic began, traffic volume has increased on the city roads, jams are spreading out beyond the rush hours, and newer congestion hot spots have emerged. But many advised caution in interpreting these as permanent trends.
Sewa Ram, professor (transport planning) at the School of Planning and Architecture, said Delhi is witnessing a “transition” from a situation that it had never experienced before, and the city administration needs to “wait and observe traffic patterns”.
“What we need to do is carefully study the trends for at least another year to understand how congestion patterns are affecting the city. It would not be right to start panicking now, because we are still recovering from a pandemic. Schools and colleges are yet to open, workplaces are yet to come to a set routine, and public transport modes are still functioning with restrictions. Patterns have to be consistent to become trends and we need to carefully monitor the way we travel for the next few years,” Ram said.
‘Flexible’ transit modes needed
Ram said that over the last year “non-scheduled trips” or “flexible trips” have increased as private companies are allowing employees to work from home or come to offices for a limited number of days or periods. This he said, was one of the reasons for unforeseen traffic congestions in various parts of the city.
Amit Bhatt, director (integrated urban transport) at the World Resources Institute (India), said another reason for increased congestion in the city was safety concerns among commuters while travelling in mass transit modes such as public buses and the Metro.
“Delhi was heavily invested in mass transit modes till the pandemic hit us. But now, we have been observing that commuters are reluctant to use these mass transit modes because of safety concerns. This is also leading to people moving more towards private vehicles,” Bhatt said.
Surveys over the last year have observed a trend of people switching to private vehicles. In April, a survey conducted by Cars24, an online platform for buying and selling used cars, saw a spike in the sale of secondhand two-wheelers and cars since June last year. The survey said that 50% of their customers were in favour of pre-owned vehicles because it not only solved the purpose of privacy during commute but was also a cheaper and more viable alternative. “The sudden spike in the demand for used bikes and cars comes from a consumer base looking to shift from public transport to private vehicles. Given the new social distancing norm, there has been a spurt in used two-wheeler buying,” the survey report said.
Time is right to go green Experts also suggested that the pandemic has offered an opportunity to shift the city’s infrastructure to greener and more sustainable modes.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said that this would be the right time for the city to invest in green infrastructures such as cycling tracks and pedestrian walkways.
“After the first lockdown, we all observed a renewed interest for cycling. Many commuters were seen cycling for leisure or short trips. We need to cash in on this interest so that it can be supported with infrastructure. Continuous lanes need to be created to ensure that there is a safe space for cyclists. This is the safest mode of transportation as it has a single occupant and also ensures social distancing,” said Roychowdhury.
Policing needs a reboot Apart from working on longterm infrastructural tweaks, the city’s traffic enforcement teams will also need to adapt to new ways of policing given the restrictions brought about by the pandemic.
“We have directed our officials to be stationed at traffic junctions and intersections during the rush hour, instead of standing to challan drivers. We are shifting our focus to congestion management,” said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (traffic).
Other than bringing about an attitudinal change to policing among the staff, the department is also increasing the use of technology to limit interaction among drivers and police officials. Other, smaller cities are also emulating this model of shifting towards technologydriven policing.
In Chandigarh, the police department on August 20 directed enforcement teams to refrain from issuing any manual challans and move completely to an online prosecution system.