India on Two Wheels and Two Feet

What is Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)?

Globally, the transportation sector shares approximately 24% of CO2 emissions, with road transportation being the major contributor. Therefore, in order to reduce these emissions, policy makers are shifting their focus on active transport across the world and emphasizing on improving infrastructure suitable for non-motorised transport. Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) is also known as active transport or human powered mode of transport. They can include walking, cycling, cycle rickshaws, hand pulled carts or other modes which are driven by human power. More recently, the term active mobility is being used in the policy sphere. The Draft Active Mobility Act in Karnataka defines active mobility as “any form of movement or transport of people or goods which solely relies on human physical activity or effort”.  

In this piece we look at the thrust around active mobility in India and what are some of the efforts which can be given further impetus.

The tracks of India’s journey with Non-Motorised Transport

Policies

Standards and codes: Historically, the transportation policies in India have been automobile-oriented and have focused on moving vehicles rather than moving people. Road engineering in India is governed by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) codes that refer to designing footpaths and cycle tracks as NMT infrastructure. However, these codes are not mandatory - they are only advisory and hence are not adhered to for urban road development. As a result, NMT infrastructure in most of the cities are either not built or are left incomplete and the designated space is quickly sacrificed to make way for motorized vehicles. 

National Urban Transport Policy: In 2006, the government issued the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) identifying   the importance of NMT to access public transport and encouraged cities to integrate NMT facilities with urban transit projects, however, little was done on ground citing difficulties in its implementation. The policy was revised in 2014 to make it user friendly. The IRC Guidelines for pedestrian facilities were also revised to be consistent with NUTP in 2012.

TOD Policy: India’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs also focuses on pedestrians, cyclists and other NMT users, recognising the role of NMT in first and last mile connectivity. In 2020, the Ministry issued an advisory to all states recommending pedestrianization of up to three markets in each city. In 2014, Greater Chennai Corporation, adopted India’s first NMT Policy aimed to arrest the decline in walking and cycling by creating a safe and pleasant network of footpaths, cycle tracks, greenways and other NMT facilities. So far, the civic body has successfully implemented over 50 km of high-quality footpaths under the policy that has inspired many national and international cities to adopt similar policies. Recently, Karnataka released a draft Active Mobility Bill, first of its kind in India, that seeks to protect pedestrians and cyclists in the urban areas across the state by creating a safe and accessible environment.

Long term Programs

To be eligible for central funding, every transportation project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, launched in 2005, required NMT to be a part of it. However, the projects largely saw NMT infrastructure only as a support to mass transit systems and therefore its development was restricted to the planned BRT corridors. As per this report, only two cities, Nanded and Bangalore, took projects that exclusively focused on improvement of NMT infrastructure. 

Even though the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), launched in 2015, prioritized water supply and sewerage as its main focus, the scheme mentioned construction of NMT facilities as one of its thrust areas. 

Smart Cities Mission (SCM), 2015, also highlights NMT as one of the key modes in urban mobility. Many smart cities like Pune, Visakhapatnam, Aizawl have adopted several NMT strategies in the form of pedestrian policy, street programs, bicycle plan and public bicycle sharing schemes. 

Specific Initiatives

Some of the concepts that have emerged as successful NMT interventions across the globe are Complete streets, Bicycle plans and Public Bike Sharing systems. These interventions are also being used in India over the last few years.

India’s first Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system was launched in Mysuru in 2017 and nearly 9,000 people registered to use the bicycles within a year. Streets for people challenge and India Cycles4Change initiatives under SCM have been successful in prioritizing streets for pedestrians and cyclists.  The following table summarizes some such initiatives.

Compiled by Nagrika

Interventions that can be strengthened in the Indian context

Various efforts globally have been able to successfully reclaim urban space from automobiles and they are now seen as the leading examples of sustainable urban transport. With a long standing cycling culture, most of the European transportation policies are cycling inclusive and focus on improving infrastructure and traffic safety for NMT users. Some countries like Netherlands and Denmark have specific plans to promote cycling at national level while some have cycling policies as part of large transportation projects/plans. The tools to improve infrastructure and safety also include construction of extensive bikeways, bike parkings, signalized junctions, car free zones in city centers and others. Below we highlight some such efforts which can be given further impetus in India’s case.

Travel safety norms for NMT users

Travel safety is a key reason that discourages people to opt for NMT modes. Even though the national and state policies refer to NMT safety, very little is translated into reality. Defined as the vulnerable group of road users, NMT users, that is, pedestrians and cyclists, made up around 15% and 2.4% of all road deaths in India, respectively, and these percentages continue to rise.  In order to reduce these numbers, interventions like signalized pedestrian and cycle crossings as well as traffic regulations favoring NMT users need to be strengthened. Pedestrians and cyclists are prone to accidents at unsignalised intersections. Evidence suggests that appropriate traffic signal design can help minimize the accident rates. Cities like Bengaluru and Chandigarh are already experimenting with pelican signals for pedestrian safety. The recently released Karnataka Active Mobility Bill is a first in India that is motivated by safety considerations and aims to prioritize NMT user safety. Like the Motor Vehicle Act, that protects the rights of its users, NMT also needs such kind of legal protection at national level.

Awareness programs

Another area of improvement is awareness that can help combat the social stigma associated with NMTs. Educational and training programs should form an important part of any kind of NMT strategy. Studies show that promotional programs under the Safe Routes to School program were successful in increasing the cycle rides to school by 5% every year. This indicates that street improvement initiatives, focused at increasing NMT mode share, are most effective when combined with such awareness programs. Chennai NMT policy also includes awareness campaigns by urban local bodies and traffic police in addition to cycle rallies and events as promotional tools. Walkathon, Cyclothon, Cyclotron and many such public awareness programs were successful in promoting NMT to some extent in India. Cities like Kochi, Ghaziabad have hosted car free days, however, their frequency has been limited.

Integration with public transport

More than 80% of Indians use public transport and around 70% of these users rely on non-motorised transport along with cabs and autos for first and last mile connectivity. NMT in India has largely been promoted as a feeder system to support public transportation in the form of PBS schemes. Studies indicate that public transit ridership is positively associated with shared bike usage. However, the availability of NMT infrastructure in India has been limited to planned public transport corridors. Therefore, in addition to quality bikes and easy to use stations, it is important that the NMT network coverage does not remain limited. Non-Motorized Transport has a high potential as a sustainable solution for first and last mile issues that needs to be tapped to enhance the efficiency of public transit systems.

As per a 2019 survey, walking turned out to be the most preferred mode of commute by the urban dwellers in India for their weekly needs. In another survey, it was found that if cycling became convenient, 95% of the people are willing to shift to cycling. These findings, complemented by the fact that around 39% of urban commute trips are less than 5km, are good signs for an active and green mobility future with a potential to solve many of India’s urban mobility issues.

Thumbnail Photo by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash