Why Mumbai needs an integrated transport system

By Shashank Rao, Ranjeet Jadhav and Vedika Chaubey |Posted 20-Aug-2014

In the financial capital of the country, you would expect

Monorail stations are neither close to suburban railway stations, nor are
there frequent BEST buses connecting them to important destinations.
File pics

Every day, 75 lakh people travel by local trains; 40 lakh take the buses run by the
BEST and nearly 50 lakh commute by auto rickshaws and taxis. The Metro also has
a significant user base, which is missing from the Monorail. Despite so many users,
planning agencies have bungled up time and again in executing projects and
making life easier for citizens.

WR and MMRDA have been unable to reach a consensus over who will put
up a railway ticket counter for passengers going from Metro to Andheri
railway stations via the skywalk
In his budget speech, Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda emphasised the need
for integrating Indian Railways with other modes of transport. Even a behemoth like
Indian Railways which carries 23 million people every day and has an outlay of Rs
35,241 crore a year has recognised the need to join hands with local transport
systems.
This, however, has been traditionally wanting, with different bodies like the BMC,
MMRDA, PWD and MSRDC being unable to see eye-to-eye on several projects. The
simple task of acquiring permissions takes months and even years.

While government agencies blame each other for the poor condition of
roads, commuters are stuck in traffic for hours
The result? Project costs escalate manifold due to delays, and the already crumbling
infrastructure bears the additional load of incomplete bridges, dug-up roads and
other bottlenecks.
mid-day analysed several cases where Mumbaikars have suffered immensely due to
the involvement of multiple governmental agencies and the self-serving nature of
political parties, which has held back the city from becoming truly world-class.
Rail transport: Railways, Metro and Monorail
It took the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and
Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) six years to complete the Versova-AndheriGhatkopar (VAG) corridor of the Metro (The Delhi Metro opened eleven years ago).
Though it has received tremendous response and provides vital east-west
connectivity, ego battles between MMRDA and the Railways have marred what
couldve been a landmark in public transport for Mumbai. The bone of contention a
simple rail ticket counter.
Western Railway (WR) and MMRDA have had disagreements over the setting up of
ticket counters for commuters who come out of the Metro station and walk into
Andheri railway station. Currently, there is no railway ticket counter at the exit point
of the Metro, where the skywalk connects to the railway bridge.

Thus, Metro commuters are pulled up by ticket checkers for not buying a ticket
before entering railway premises. This leaves people with no option but to climb
down the skywalk, buy a ticket from the railway counter below, and climb up the
stairs to the railway bridge again an unnecessary detour that is a result of the
inability of the two bodies to be on the same page.
MMRDA was supposed to set up the ticket counter, said Hemant Kumar, WRs
general manager. On the other hand, Metro officials blame WR for the mess. We
did create a separate ticket counter for Central Railway (CR) commuters at
Ghatkopar, which is directly connected to the Metro skywalk.
WR authorities disagreed on many grounds, including the setup cost. Finally, they
are the ones managing it, said a Metro rail official. Even at Ghatkopar Metro
station, the railway ticket counter is inconspicuous and is difficult to find. Even the
skywalks that connect Metro and railway stations have multiple bodies involved.
According to MMOPL officials, part of the skywalks connecting the stations are built
by the BMC and part by the MMRDA. The citys other mega project, the ChemburWadala Monorail corridor, has received a lukewarm response.
While the people blame the route itself which is far away from residential and
business hubs transport experts believe Monorail stations arent properly connected
to roads or railway stations. Except for Chembur, which is connected by a skywalk,
the rest of the Monorail stations are quite far from railway stations.
Wadala, for instance, is surrounded by a gigantic truck terminal almost in the middle
of nowhere. There are very few BEST routes catering to this line, contributing to
commuters decision to give the Monorail a miss.
Experts feel the Monorail will pick up pace once the entire line, up to Jacob Circle, is
completed. Other phases of the Metro are also in the offing Phase 3 will connect
Seepz, Bandra and Colaba.
The Railways, meanwhile, plan to extend Harbour lines to Goregaon, while also
adding two new lines on the Churchgate-Borivli and CST-Thane routes. With so many
developments taking place simultaneously, there is an even stronger case to have a
single body overseeing these projects.
Road transport: BEST, autos and taxis
As the city expands ever further and different areas are connected via various
modes, the lack of a common integrated vision shows at the points of intersection
of two projects. The Traffic department, which is responsible for policing vehicles, for
instance, is struggling to manage vehicular traffic on the stretch below the Metro.
Sources in the Traffic police said that their workload has unnecessarily gone up due
to lack of coordination between agencies while planning and constructing the VAG
Metro line, and roads like the Eastern Freeway and Santacruz-Chembur Link Road.

We are deploying around 200 more traffic policemen at these locations to manage
the increasing traffic, said B K Upadhyay, joint police commissioner (traffic).
Every day, 450 vehicles are registered in the city and there is no space for new
ones. There are already 20 lakh vehicles plying in Mumbai and poor public transport
leads to an increase in vehicular density. Officials said that there is a need for
thinking about the corresponding load on the infrastructure and transportation due
to the overlapping projects.
They pushed for having public transport run more on the new highways, while also
ensuring adequate connectivity of other modes of public transport from the
Metro/Monorail stations. Traffic cops assert the need for Railways, Metro, Monorail,
BEST, taxis and auto rickshaws to coordinate at various levels and become different
interconnected gears that collectively take the city forward. That, however, is not
the case.
Around a month ago, the BEST launched two new routes outside Marol, Airport
Road, Chakala and Azad Nagar Metro train stations to ferry passengers walking out
from these stations. We may increase feeder routes outside Metro stations
depending on the demand. There are no plans to have bus services close to the
Monorail stations, said BEST General Manager Om Prakash Gupta.
Sadly, these feeder services havent got much response not because there people
dont want to used them travelling, but due to interference from auto rickshaws,
that are either run by trade unions or individuals.
Auto rickshaws hog space right in front of Metro rail stations and park there
haphazardly, waiting for passengers.
Locals pointed out that as the Metro ate away from their share of commuters from
Andheri and Ghatkopar stations, these drivers wait in a disorderly fashion outside
the 11 Metro rail stations, causing traffic jams and affecting the BESTs feeder bus
routes. People are yet to use or even know about these new services.
The Transport department and Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) are only
responsible for giving permission for licences, approving them and taking action in
case of issues. Yet there is no body to directly oversee the daily functioning of auto
rickshaws and taxis.
BEST authorities agreed there is a lack of coordination that results in duplication of
different modes of transport. We will wait for four months or so, and if the demand
for these feeder bus routes at Metro rail stations doesnt increase, we will be forced
to discontinue them, added Gupta. The undertaking is already in the red, with only
one of their 504 routes making a profit.
Too many cooks
MMRDA, which is supposed to be the planning agency for the city, complains that

ideas suggested by various bodies throw a spanner in their works. A senior MMRDA
official told mid-day, In order to have a better transportation system that is
interconnected, there should be a single agency to plan and implement projects.
The various agencies looking after different aspects of development of transport
create problems, as each one comes up with their own plans and projects.
Leave alone the big-ticket projects; even basic infrastructure work like roads have
multiple players. While the BMC looks after a road network spanning 1,800 square
kilometres, the Western Express Highway (WEH), Eastern Express Highway (EEH)
and the Sion-Panvel Highway are with the Public Works Department (PWD). The
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has an agency called
Mumbai Entry Point Ltd, which collects toll on the WEH and EEH and is also
supposed to maintain the flyovers on these highways.
It has become an annual rite of passage for Mumbaikars to suffer backbreaking
potholes on these roads and two-wheeler riders die every year due to these craters.
Yet, government bodies simply pass the buck or do a temporary job of fixing them.
Contractors have absolutely zero accountability and yet, they keep getting
contracts to maintain the roads year after year.
For example, this paper had reported on a road in Santacruz that had 180 potholes,
some of which measured 3x3 metres and were 10 inches deep. The road was part of
a slum rehabilitation project under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), yet
another government body. If there was a single agency constructing and
maintaining the roads in Mumbai and MMR, there would be better roads and lesser
potholes. It would ensure that the quality of roads is not compromised, thus
preventing reckless spending of taxpayers money, said a senior official from
MSRDC.
In another case, it took the MSRDC years to procure permission to widen the bridge
atop the Kanjurmarg railway station. The six-lane Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road used
to converge on this narrow bridge passing over the tracks, creating a huge
bottleneck. Traffic would stretch from Kanjurmarg all the way to IIT-Bombay. After
years of red-tape and delays, the bridge was widened a couple of years ago.
One for Mumbai
The need of the hour is a single body with a long-term vision of how the citys
infrastructure needs to be created and maintained in order to sustain the evergrowing population.
This body needs to envisage a grand scheme that encompasses all forms of
transport in an intricate network ensuring that citizens can travel with ease. One
should be able to take the local train, hop onto the Metro and then take a BEST bus
or auto rickshaw to reach ones destination, without having to worry about being
stranded at any point.

When there is a single body looking after the citys project planning and
implementation, not only will the project be implemented in time, it will also help in
saving money. Most of the time, bodies spend crores only on planning. Then, they
follow different Acts and rules and varying standards of quality, which only results in
the creation of transport silos that are disconnected from each other.
A common goal and consensus would help in executing the project in a fluid
manner, at minimum cost. It is imperative that the different planning bodies come
under the aegis of one grand organisation which is of Mumbai, by Mumbai and for
Mumbai.
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