Skip to main content

Ahmedabad's 22% commuters "moved" from motorbikes to buses, claims World Bank, contradicts expert survey

Taking an infrastructure-centric view of things, a new World Bank report has praised Ahmedabad for its “transformative initiatives” in managing issues of “motorization” and “urbanization” as a top priority. Saying that while most South Asian cities are “poorly planned and managed”, the report singles out Ahmedabad’s Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for having “emerged as an example” of how a planned commuting system can help “reduce emissions and improve air quality”, with a “positive impact on urban development.”
The report comes despite the existence of a well-documented study by Prof Darshini Mahadevia and Prof Rutul Joshi of the prestigious CEPT University, Ahmedabad, which said on the basis of a spot survey, only 0.4 per cent of the poor use BRTS, pointing out that even affluent people still prefer to use their private vehicles instead of BRTS buses. The study had revealed, just 13.7% of the BRTS users belonged to households with an income of up to Rs 5,000 while 62.2% users have monthly incomes of more than Rs10,000.
Refusing to into such “minor” details, the World Bank study, titled “Leveraging Urbanization in South Asia”, says, the name given to BRTS is “Janmarg” which means “the people’s way,” and is “a road-based public transport service, featuring a closed system with bus stations along road medians as well as revamped rights of way to include cycle tracks and pedestrian facilities.”
Pointing towards why it considers BRTS “a success” the report, contrary to the Mahadevia-Joshi survey, claims, “About 20–22 percent of commuters have moved from motorcycles to buses, saving almost 200,000 vehicle-kilometers per day. The Janmarg is expected to continue attracting passengers and is part of a larger regional plan for Ahmedabad with far wider coverage.” It is not known what the source of information is.
The World Bank claim continues, “The extensive network has benefited previously underserved groups. For example, there has been a rise in female travelers, and almost 40 per cent of commuters in the afternoon off-peak hours are women.”
Then, it adds, “Janmarg has also helped rejuvenate Ahmedabad, encouraging redevelopment of vacant, former mill lands and the building of new housing and shopping areas for the urban poor along its corridors.”
Coming to managing urbanization, the report praises the Gujarat government’s move to look into the problem of the current very low floor area ratio, which is a mere 1.0 at some places, choking the traffic in the Central Business District (CBD), impeding pedestrian movement.
The “ambitious local area plan” drafted by the Ahmedabad authorities, according to the report, “proposes to transform the CBD by leveraging its connectivity to a proposed metrorail system and its location along the waterfront.”
“It also proposes to triple the floor area ratio from 1.8 to 5.4, quadruple the population from 85,000 to 357,000, and double the street network coverage and green cover. The plan includes key elements such as adding new streets to improve connectivity and walkability, appropriating street-side setbacks and reducing building footprints, relaxing building envelope and height restrictions, incorporating design elements such as arcades, and transferring development rights up to the maximum building height”, the report states.
Making Ahmedabad as ideal, the report says, “Although South Asian cities generally may not be ready to adopt congestion pricing and tolling, implement parking controls, or levy taxes on luxury vehicles, they could start with basic traffic management initiatives, such as charging for on-street parking, and then move toward pay-to-use parking lots and garages.”

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Unchecked urbanisation, waste dumping: Study warns of 'invited disaster' as khadi floods threaten half of Surat

An action research report, “Invited Disaster: Khadi Floods in Surat City”, published by two civil rights groups, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Surat, states that nearly half of Gujarat's top urban conglomerate—known for its concentration of textile and diamond polishing industries—is affected by the dumping of debris and solid waste, along with the release of treated and untreated sewage into the khadis (rivulets), thereby increasing the risk of flood disaster.

Two decades on, hunger still haunts Gujarat: Survey exposes stark gap behind poverty claims

A Niti Aayog report , released about two years ago, estimated that in Gujarat — which our powers-that-be have long considered a model state — 11.66% of people are "multidimensionally poor," a term referring to an index that seeks to estimate "multiple and simultaneous deprivations" at the household level across three macro categories: health, education, and living standards.

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

English proficiency for empowerment: Modi’s SCOPE vision contrasts Amit Shah’s remark

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah may have asserted that soon a time would come when those speaking English in the country would “feel ashamed”, it is ironic that Narendra Modi, when he was Gujarat chief minister, had launched what was called the SCOPE programme, actively involving the University of Cambridge to provide opportunities to the youth of Gujarat to "become not just job seekers but job creators (entrepreneurs)."