Transport expert Dr PS Pasricha explains the way forward for easing traffic problems in Mumbai which hold lessons for all large cities

Alekh Angre

Dr PS Pasricha, former deputy commissioner of Mumbai (traffic) in the 1980s, had introduced series of very thoughtful steps to improve the traffic management of the “maximum city”. He has also served on various departments of police. A PhD in traffic management, Dr Pasricha has authored a book, Traffic Management: A long way to go”, on road safety and traffic management. In an interview with Alekh Angre of Moneylife, he talks about urgent need to overhaul the congestion and signal management and thereby giving thrust to public transport. (This the first part of the interview)

Moneylife (ML): You have studied traffic and public transport for many years. Where have we gone wrong, to have at such pathetic public transport in Mumbai?

Dr PS Pasricha (PS): For this, one has to understand the phenomena of rising population and vehicular ownership. From 18 lakh population in 1941, it grew ten fold to around 180 lakh today. The number of cars now stands at around 22-23 lakh from just 18,000 in 1941. But the total area is limited. Since Mumbai is surrounded on three sides by water, there is a trend of commuting towards the north of city or vertically up. The density of car ownership is also rising. We have around 2,200 km of roads, hence there are problems of traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

To top that there is constant digging of roads by various utility departments such hydraulic, sewage, telephone, etc and often a mismatch in the digging and excavation timings, leading to disturbance in the traffic movement. Then is there is the perennial issue of encroachment despite Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Then there are other developments, too. Navi Mumbai was created to mainly for commercial purpose. Later people started moving over there for residential purposes due to rising realty prices in the mainland. Over the years, this has resulted in longitudinal extension of traffic. Earlier we had 80% of the traffic coming towards south Mumbai in the morning. But now it is same in both directions. The mass transit pattern is same for 12-15 hours. Poor signal management adds to the problem. There are various signal time plans available on the signal system, but these have not been utilised. There has to be different signal timing for various slots of the day, along with periodic study of signal pattern.  

ML: So the public transport utilities have not adapted to these changes?

PS: Yes. There is no systematic approach and no co-ordination between departments. During my time we had regular meetings with all the departments and stake-holders. This solved many of the issues. It also increased transparency. To tackle the issue of congestion due to digging of road, we used to ask for proposals from all the utilities agencies—telephone, gas, and sewage, etc, for their requirement by end of May, every year. After rigorous planning and strategizing, we used to allocate timings to dig the roads. This ensured there was no overlapping and hence there was no issue of congestion.



ML: You mentioned about poor signal management. Could please tell us something more about it?

PS: What we see now is completely unplanned signal management. The timings of the signal are same throughout the day. It has to be dynamic because the traffic itself is dynamic. Signal management has to be studied every three months or at least once in six months. If we put pressure on one point, the traffic moves to another lane/route. So congestion is spread at different points. During my days as commissioner, we had implemented nine different signal timings—for mornings, afternoons, evenings, holidays, festivals, etc. That should be re-introduced. Congestion management is essential for improving the efficiency of public transport.

ML: Could you elaborate on congestion management?

PS: If you consider Mumbai, the car ownership is rising. Currently I think the car occupancy must be around 1.8 from earlier 1.6. Take the example of Singapore, in 1975, to control congestion, it did not allow cars in certain downtown areas from 7.30-10.15 in the morning, unless it carried four people. So people started sharing vehicles or going before or after the no-entry period. This flattened the peak pressure and also migrated people to actually use public transport. Singapore was the pioneer in effective congestion management in a scientific manner. It also encouraged people to use public transport. In case of Mumbai, every private vehicle having capacity of four people should at least carry three. This will help to reduce the number of cars plying on the road. The basic rule of traffic management is that you pass only that amount of the traffic to next junction, which it can siphon out smoothly. But inconsistency of lanes is also a part of the problem. For instance, there are four lanes on Marine Drive, which further reduce to 3-2.5 lanes at Babulnath, and beyond it on Peddar Road there are only two lanes. So there is a problem of traffic bottle-neck. An average length of car is about five meters, this leads to bumper-to-bumper traffic with very little space. So in one km there are around 200 cars, which pass in 15 minutes per lane. So, around 800 cars ply per lane in one hour within the city. Thus, even one lane is blocked for 15 minutes, for some reason; there would be congestion of around 1 km. Such factors are hardly taken into consideration. We need consistency in lanes.



ML: Could tell us your views on flyovers? You have been very vocal about the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and its real use.

PS: Many of the flyovers are not providing any relief the problem of congestion. Many of them are badly planned and all are not workable. Take the case of the Sion flyover. The vehicles which were coming in four lanes are reduced to two lanes on the flyover. So there is bound to have congestion. Same is the case with Bandra-Worli Sea Link. I had written that it is going to cause a lot of problems at Haji Ali and Peddar Road, unless you link it with Marine Drive. Vehicles are coming at speed of 2,000 cars per lane per hour on the bridge. But near Worli Seaface, only 600-700 cars can ply at the same speed. So again there is the problem of traffic bottle-neck. Overall the commuting time is not phenomenally reduced after using the Sea Link. It is usable only if you going outside of the city as it is connected to the highway. It needs to be extended to Marine Drive and also to the eastern corridor, from Sewree, Navi Mumbai, Uran Nhava Shiva (Trans harbour link). This needs to be given top priority.   

ML: With projects like Metro and Monorail in the implementation phase, would they help to improve Mumbai’s public transport?

PS: They are certainly supplementing the effort. Though, it cannot be a solution for all the problems. But again it has to be done with proper planning and vision of at least of 50 years hence. Here we have a situation where roads are dug up and there is no time frame when it will be restored to its present condition. I keep insisting on holistic planning with a 360 degree view. The poor public transport and traffic problems are only due to pathetic planning. In 1965, a consultant by the name Wilbur Smith had proposed a ring road around the city in the form of the Western and Eastern Express Highway, with cost of only Rs60 crore. It was not implemented at that time, but eventually it was built. That is the kind of vision I am talking about.

ML: Having pointed all these problems, what is the way forward?

PS: To begin with we need to build an institution such as Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) with a legal status. This will ensure better inter-departmental and effective co-ordination for planning on land use and traffic management.

This will also help to improve good and efficient public transport and automatically discourage private car usage. We require an integrated fare system, starting with the railways. Industries and corporates should be encouraged to set up at least 150 km away from the city. For that, they should be given subsidies and better FSI (Floor Space Index). Such satellite towns should also be connected with better roads so that people won’t mind travelling the distance.

We need to implement good traffic management with dynamic signal timing along with good road markings and signs. This will improve safety as well as traffic flow and people will also comply with the law.

Then there should be an effective driving license system with de-meriting system for those breaking safety and traffic rules. Only then people will understand the importance of driving licenses. The process of issuing driving license should be computerised, such as in the case of passport. This is a solid investment and also important from the point of national security. We require good footpaths, to encourage pedestrians and encouraging walking habits for smaller distances.

Lastly, we should plan and implement projects as per our ground realities and limitations. It should not be introduced just because it was a success elsewhere.