‘Bus Day’ to promote use of public transport

Deccan Chronicle: "Kochi: Kochi city witnessed another edition of Bus Day on Thursday as the district administration joined hands with the Vyttila Mobility Hub Society and the bus operators in an attempt to promote the use of public transport system.

The season ticket system for regular long distance bus travelers and seat reservation service was also launched during the inauguration function held at Vyttila Mobility Hub in Kochi on Thursday. The observance of bus day also saw 6,000 persons availing the free bus journey on Thursday."

Road-building may speed up traffic, but then where do you park?

'Better public transport only solution to traffic problem' - The Times of India: ""Parking is the single biggest reason for traffic jams in the city. As long as the authorities continue to provide parking spaces, the demand for it will keep increasing until a time when all the city's parks will be used for parking and future generations will have nowhere to play or walk," she said."

Solution to traffic congestion in Pune is public transport

Improve public transport to curb traffic congestion: ITDP - Pune - DNA: "Gadepalli said, “Just increase the rate of parking per hour in Pune by only Rs5 for two-wheeler and Rs10 for four-wheeler. The funds collected by increased rates should be used for the development of the area and improvement of public transport, with cleaner buses and better frequency.”

Gadepalli said, “Public sharing cycles should be encouraged in the city. A person can become the member and use it wherever he goes and park it in the designated lane which will help to improve the traffic system.”

Making wider roads or constructing flyovers will not help to curb the issue of traffic menace in the city. It can only be done once we encourage people to use public transport system. Only then we can have a good life for human beings, she said."

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Patna adds 60,000 cars every year to its roads

Patna needs strong public transport system: Experts - The Times of India: "Many short-term plans to clear the chock-a-block situation were proposed at the conference. "Road surface improvement, signalizing intersections, putting in place circulation plans such as one-way streets or vehicular segregation, traffic calming techniques, developing and barricading footpaths and foot overbridges and establishment of a single-window traffic management centre can cater to many problems," said Ishita Chauhan, an urban transport expert, Institute of Urban Transport, adding that a cost-effective and systemic public transport system was the need of the hour. "Since Patna is a longitudinal city, a one-kilometre radius zone on the arterial roads would cover the entire city," she said."

Cars have created a mess in Delhi, people desperately seeking solutions

After exploring several hopeless ideas for bringing private autos under control, the author finally ends with this paragraph.

Time for one car, one family rule in Delhi - Hindustan Times: "What is the single most important measure to clear the parking mess?
Unless public transport is not strengthened, people will continue to buy private vehicles and the problem of parking space will continue."

Cars destroying Kathmandu

Long road to nowhere | Opinion | Oped: "Although high-speed wide roads are essential physical infrastructure of cities, they are completely taken over by vehicles and people are pushed to narrow sidewalks. Under any circumstances, such roads should not penetrate settlements where roads are often the only public open space, which then becomes a stage for urban social life. Nevertheless, roads in dense neighborhoods have also been widened, which is likely to invite more traffic in the near future. This is a threat to lively outdoor street activities. A more prudent choice would have been to divert vehicular flow outside and preserve social life. After all, street culture is an indispensable part of urban life that brings people from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds together."

Auto fuel subsidy the cause of India economic collapse

Free of wheels: "A substantial proportion of India’s balance of payments deficit arises from its insatiable thirst for imported oil. Oil prices, which are largely determined by the government, are just about a third of what they are in Europe. The difference is not due to any difference in oil import prices; it is not the case that Arabs sell oil to their eastern neighbour any more cheaply than they do to Europeans. The low prices are entirely due to low taxes. If the Centre raised duties on liquid fuels, people would use public transport more and make fewer trips by car."

Cars choking Panaji

The Times of India: ""Every year, 8% more vehicles are added to the city's streets. The existing number of vehicles will double in the next 5-6 years, and the existing road infrastructure will not be able to accommodate the burden,""

Road safety: Getting out of the nightmare

Dhaka Tribune: ". In Bangladesh, there is no road discipline or control, the condition of roads are terrible and public transport is seriously lacking. The situation is so poor that it is quite embarrassing for Bangladeshis."

Pollution levels in Pune are "alarming"

Experts pin success of development plan on public transport access - The Times of India: "The city's Environment Status Report (ESR) for 2012-13 has said that the use of two- wheelers and cars to commute is on the and rise pollution levels in the city have reached alarming levels.
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"More focus on demand management" #itsthedemand Bangalore #publictransit

Petrol price hike opens doors for mass transit | Deccan Chronicle: "“From the mobility perspective, since there is much more focus today on demand management measures than supply centric (primarily road infrastructure based) measures, rise in petrol prices can be strategically used to disincentivize commuters to use personal vehicles and encourage them to use more sustainable modes of transport like public transport,” said Verma.

The focus therefore should be making mass transport more and more affordable. “Here it is very important to ensure that how rise in petrol and diesel prices does not lead to increase in public transport fares, which is a common strategy the public transport companies generally adopt to compensate the effect of fuel price rise."

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