City should be rebuilt to feed traffic to metro rail

City should be rebuilt to feed traffic to metro rail
Deccan Herald

Metro rail has been a success only in cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manhattan etc., and Bangalore’s existing city centre working population cannot afford it, says the expert.

Rail-based options like the Metro rail proposed for Bangalore is not an answer to public transport issues facing growing cities, including Bangalore, as they are not economically viable, it was observed on Monday.

Pointing out that international reviews of metro rail have proven that ‘low rise cities cannot afford it’, Prof Dinesh Mohan, Coordinator of the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme, IIT Delhi observed that Bangalore will need a working population of at least five lakh in its central locale for metro rail to be viable. He was speaking in Bangalore at a seminar on ‘Transport and Environment Friendly Technologies’, organised jointly by KSRTC, BMTC and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

Rebuild Bangalore

“You have to destroy Bangalore and fill up people in 30 to 40 storeyed buildings (in the vicinity of the Metro route). You cannot succeed with just four to six floor high structures,” he said.

Prof Dinesh Mohan, also a member of National Road Safety Council, noted that it was already happening in Delhi where the State government has now sought changes in the project to put up high rise structures near its Metro rail.

Noting that in terms of cost, Bangalore Metro will work out to Rs 5 per kilometre per person, he said under existing public transport norms the government cannot charge more than 75 paise per head. He wondered if the government could afford a subsidy of more than Rs 4 per person.

The nearly Rs 7,000 crore that is sought to be spent on Metro Rail for Bangalore should be put to better use, he opined, noting that 10,000 air-conditioned buses can be bought and 400 kms of road can be improved with the same amount.

Earlier, former chief secretary and Chairman of Centre for Sustainable Development Dr A Ravindra too voiced similar views. Noting that Metro Rail is routed along the already developed areas and has no connection to the new developing centres of the City, he said ‘the economic feasibility of Metro depends on the creation of new jobs in the city (centre)’.

Policy issues should focus on providing alternate growth centres and serving their transport needs instead of looking at solutions to de-congest the city centre, he said.