Figure 1
[1]
Improvement
of transportation conditions due to traffic congestion problems is high
on the Indian government’s agenda for urban cities like Mumbai. India,
one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is achieving a growth
rate of 7.5% per annum. With a growing population too, the country is
working hard to transform itself over the next few decades.
According
to the Census 2011, at least 377 million Indians, comprising about 31
per cent of the country’s population, live in urban areas. Today,
India’s urban population is more than the entire population of a country
like United States of America or Brazil. The urbanization level in
India is set to further increase and the urban population is expected to
reach about 600 million by 2030. Unfortunately, today we are witnessing
more and more congestion on the streets of our cities which is leading
to problems like
road accidents, air and noise pollution, posing serious health hazards for citizens [2].
To build inclusive, safer, and more sustainable cities of tomorrow,
technology will play a decisive role in identifying mobility gaps and
transforming existing transportation services.
Mumbai is one of
the most highly populated cities and is the capital city of Maharashtra,
also called the financial capital of India. With a population of 21.3
million and a high population density of nearly 21,000 persons/square
km, the demand of proper transportation system and the role of the
transportation system in the lives of the average earning population are
crucial. Currently the majority of Mumbai’s population relies on the
bus and public rail services.
The expansion and growth of buses as
well as rail transportation modes in Mumbai has proven to be
insufficient to match the growth of population in this hub of business.
There are other new modes of transportation like metro rail, mono rail
and electric buses which are also being introduced in the city and have
low carbon foot prints and provide better services i.e. less noisy, air
conditioned, less commutation time.
Major modes of transportation
- Railways (Mumbai Suburb Rail)
Mumbai
suburban railway is the lifeline of the city, as per the recorded data,
more than 80% of all the motorized trips are undertaken on public bus
and rail services and more than half of the trips of public transport
mentioned above are taken on the rail services.
Figure 2: Mumbai Suburban Map
[3]
Figure 3: Mumbai Suburban
[4]
Approximately
8 million commuters use the 2900 trains of the suburban rail system.
During peak hours these trains are overcrowded to nearly four times the
network’s capacity.
Various initiatives are taken by the
state government to improve the condition of the suburban railway system
along with the World Bank, named the Mumbai Urban Transport Project
(MUTP I, II & III)
[5].
BEST (
Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport) introduced Mumbai
to its first bus and finally on 10th February of 1926 as replacement of
tramcars. The popularity of motor buses increased exponentially, and
people started using buses frequently for traveling as it used to be a
faster way to travel as compared to tramcars. With the frequent
availability of buses, its regularity, quickness, and cleanliness,
people started preferring motor-buses above any other mode of
transportation.
Within a year the fleet of motor-buses
started to expand to meet the public transportation service demand. To
meet the public demand, the public started hiring private buses by the
end of the first year, 600K passengers used the service and in the next
year with the help of better management and addition of new fleet, the
figure rose to 3.8 million. Since then BEST is one of the major modes of
transportation in Mumbai. Due to various reasons, now BEST services are
in trouble and unable to provide the increasing demand of bus services,
Increasing the Mumbai population
[7], increasing the private car density (the highest density is 430 cars per kilometer
[8]), the fleet of BEST has not shown the same growth as the population of Mumbai (fallen 21 percent in last 5 years
[9]) , high road accidents
[10], and financial crisis
[11] are some of the major issues.
From
older facilities like share-an-auto services, to infrastructure
projects like the Mumbai Metro and the Mumbai Monorail, to private
sector offerings like app-driven private taxi services by, all have
taken passengers away from the BEST.
Over
the past 5 years, the number of vehicles in Mumbai has grown from 200K
to 300K, an increase of 50%, however the road length in Mumbai, at
around 2,000km, has not changed significantly during the period. The
main reason for people to buy private vehicles are inefficient public
transport and easy availability of car loans for buying vehicles. These
private vehicles are responsible for increasing the vehicle density in
Mumbai and lead to traffic issues and encroachment of public roads due
to lack of sufficient parking spaces in the city.
To
reduce private vehicles in urban areas and boost public transport, the
state government has come up with a new urban transport draft policy
which has suggested introducing additional charges to the cost of
vehicle and high parking charges based on location [13].
Modernization projects in Mumbai
Figure 4: Mumbai Metro
[15]
Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of
Mumbai. The system is designed to reduce traffic congestion in the city, and supplement the overcrowded
Mumbai Suburban Railway
network. It is being built in three phases over a 15-year period, with
overall completion expected in 2025. When completed, the core system
will comprise
of 8 high-capacity metro railway lines,
spanning a total of 235 kms (146 mi) (24% underground, the rest
elevated, with a minuscule portion built at-grade), and serviced by 200
stations. Line 1 is operational now. The status of the project is as
follows:
Figure 5: Mumbai Metro master plan
[16]
Figure 6 : Mumbai Monorail [18]
Where
the systems like the Metro cannot be implemented, Monorail can be
easily implemented and can negotiate sharp turns and climb up and down
steep gradients easily. The system started commercial operation after
partially opening its Phase 1 to the public in 2014. Upon the completion
of entire Phase 1 in mid-2017, the Mumbai Monorail is set to become the
fifth-largest monorail system in the world.
The cost of the monorail service was estimated in 2010 to be ₹2.0 billion (roughly ₹850 million (US$13 million) per km). Approximately 135 kms (84 mi) of line is planned to be built in phases between 2011 and 2031.
The Mumbai Monorail master plan proposed the construction of 8 lines at a cost of ₹202.96 billion (US$3.2 billion).
Figure 7 : Mumbai Monorail master plan [19]
Introduction
of new e-buses, run on lithium ion batteries. Unlike the buses run on
fossil fuels, they do not have an engine, gearbox or clutch. Electric
motors ensure that they are noiseless and smokeless. They are more
eco-friendly than hybrid electric and compressed natural gas-run buses.
Figure 8 : Mumbai Electric Bus
[21]
- Virtual Taxi, Bus and Auto Apps [22]
Figure 9 [23]
The
simplest way to grab a cab today is to reach into your pocket and use
an app. Whether you’re running late for work or feeling too lazy to get
bothered by the super-dense crush load of local trains, there’s a cab
for every occasion. There are loads of superb apps for booking cabs on
the go. We have plethora of options for Mumbai such as Meru, Ola, Uber,
Easy Cab, Taxi for Sure, and Tab Cab. So just sit back, relax, &
plan your itinerary.
rBus, Cityflo and
OfficeBus offer point-to-point private bus services to many areas of
Mumbai city. And apps such as Jump In Jump Out, LiftO, BlaBlaCar and
Tripda allow people to seek out or offer lifts and share the cost of
commuting by taxi or autorickshaws in addition to private vehicles.
All
these services are less than a 2-3 years old, set up by young
entrepreneurs who spotted a gap in the market. The main features of
these services are ease of use and flexibility, the new contract
carriage services offer better infrastructure (air-conditioning, wifi,
reclining seats, water bottles and newspapers) and even a sense of
community.
Hurdle for new Innovative Solution in transportation:
In
the absence of reliable travel data for Mumbai city, until now, has
made it difficult for public officials to assess the impact of
infrastructure projects on urban mobility and to identify future needs.
This is no longer the case with developments in geo-mapping technologies
and open standards, with GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification)
being the most commonly used. Transit agencies need to make GTFS feeds
on routes and schedules and GIS locations on transport infrastructure
publicly available. Some transit agencies have also released data sets
on budgetary, performance and ridership data.
Scope of ICT in transformation of Mumbai Transportation [24]
The
ICT sector contributes about 2% of global Carbon dioxide (chemical
formula CO2) emissions, but can help to eliminate a significant portion
of the remaining 98% from other industries. Fully integrating transport
infrastructure, vehicles and users with ICT has been shown to
significantly reduce environmental impact and deliver improved safety
and efficiency. It also enables the connectivity required to support
infrastructure for future green vehicles (electric vehicles).
As suggested by an ICT Industry leader, the state can have a strategy in 2 parts to drive the transformation.
Firstly,
working in partnership with local academia/university to develop
intelligent ICT-enabled solutions, including primarily operators but
also utilities, transportation, governments and others. And
secondly
actively engaging with stakeholders and policymakers regionally and
nationally to inform public policy and to drive initiatives to
accelerate the potential of broadband to transform cities, reduce
carbon, increase efficiency, spur innovation, and enhance life quality.
The approach to connecting the transportation industry can be focused on providing solutions in three stages:
connected, cooperating and
automated.
Figure10: Transformation in transportation
[25]
The
first stage is all about connecting different elements of the transport
ecosystem – vehicles and the infrastructure that supports their
mobility like roads, traffic lights and bus stops – through wireless
sensors. The three main challenges within transportation are safety,
efficiency, and sustainability; connectivity is the first step to
improving all three of these.
The Connected Urban Transport is a
completely new way to connect everything and everyone that moves. It is a
solution that enables data sharing and takes interaction between
infrastructure, traffic and all stakeholders to a new level. It is an
important cornerstone in the transport industry's transition from merely
being connected, to being cooperative and automated. The Connected
Urban Transport gives transport authorities and cities the ability to
aggregate and analyze diverse, real-time data from connected vehicles,
infrastructure, and devices. The solution thereby expands their insights
and assists with operational decision-making.
The scope of the connected urban transport:
Figure 11: Connected Urban transport [26]
- Combine
and control: Collect real-time data from vehicles, roadside
infrastructure and travelers. Allow data sharing to proactively deliver
timely and accurate information to the right recipients.
- Predict
and suggest: This out-of-the-box software enables monitoring, managing
and sharing of real time traffic data and road condition data, between
people, various modes of transportation and authorities.
- Turn
your insignts into actions: When traffic and road information is allowed
to interact, it is possible to proactively deliver the right
information to the right stakeholders. This will give us a more
efficient and sustainable urban environment with a new range of digital
services. With real time insight, traffic flows can ultimately become
automated.
Solution for integrated mobility
Multi-modal
fare collection offers a sole source for trip planning, mobile
ticketing and payment and connected multiple transport service
providers. With one solution, mobility service providers can now offer
citizens a seamless transportation experience that can also reduce the
need for exclusive reliance on private cars.
Figure 12 : Integrated Mobility
[27]
- Provides one-stop-shop access for trip planning and payment.
- Supports new business models and partnerships.
- Creates personalized solutions to meet traveler's preferences.
For
example, Implementation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)
that fully supports the public buses operation can be implemented, this
ITS may include:
- Integrated E-ticketing system for BEST Buses, Rail System, Metro and Monorail
- System for automatic vehicle location (AVL)
- Real Time Passenger Information system (RTPI)
- Traffic management system that provides priority to buses
- CCTV system at intersections and bus stops
- Control Rooms
Conclusion
Any
mobility crisis is a unique one, seeing as it involves a multitude of
actors from transit agencies to ICT entrepreneurs. To meet the challenge
effectively, a dialogue between stakeholders is essential to evaluate
assets and to devise innovative mobility solutions. New mobility is a
lucrative industry
— one that can serve local communities and
provide opportunities to many. As the Mumbai state government looks to
make sustainable urban transport a priority, Mumbai can become a model
for policymakers and entrepreneurs in India to use ICT to provide
customized, safe and sustainable transportation to all.
Reference Links
[2] :HPEC ,20110
Appendix
- BEST - Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
- MMRDA - Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority
- MUTP - Mumbai Urban Transport Project
Note : This article is first published on
http://iglus.org/mumbai-transportation-system-transformation/
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