Dorin Raz's List: Justice Project - transportation

• Potholes are causing frequent traffic jams on the Western Express highway
• Kailash Aggarwal, a businessman who regularly uses the highway to reach his Tarapur factory from his Juhu residence, said: "Motorists are at a risk of developing back problems due to such pathetic roads."
• He pays the Rs 20-toll tax each time he passes the octroi post, but rues that the money is not being put to good use. Aggarwal has shot off a letter to the Maharashtra Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, which is in charge of road repair work, but is yet to receive any reply.
• Other victims of Monday's traffic jam said traffic usually moves at a snail's pace on the highway
• The traffic police said it is difficult to ensure smooth flow of vehicles on such badly-maintained roads.

3 more annotations...

• Ever wondered why the peak-hour traffic in Mumbai isn’t restricted to just peak hours anymore? According to experts, large scale construction and digging up of roads has become a primary cause for traffic jams in Mumbai.
• Not to mention the rising number of privately-owned vehicles, emerging business areas and residential complexes.
• We have been imposing (parking) restrictions only in areas that have severe traffic problems. These decisions are taken on a day-to-day basis, depending on the severity of the problem,” said Satish Mathur, joint commissioner of police (traffic).
• Added to this there is the problem of digging up of roads by utility agencies and the expansion of business as well as residential areas
• All this has led to severe traffic jams in the city
• We are reviewing the situation in these areas and are likely to adopt better traffic management methods along these roads. This may also include the introduction of parking restrictions,” said the official

4 more annotations...

• Mumbai's harrowing traffic tribulations could soon be eased if car-pooling becomes a popular mode of transport in the city,
• t least two organisations have initiated the process of bringing together people heading for a common destination in the same car.
• The system of sharing a vehicle for daily commuting on a regular basis, a common practice in several countries, can help alleviate this megalopolis' notorious traffic problems.
  
• We have a list of 4,000 people, mostly office-goers, who have shown interest in such a system," said Ashok Datar of NGO Mumbai Environment Social Network
• We would like to start off with a small number and look at the viability of the system. Car pooling could augur a win-win situation for commuters and the government
• Registrations will be completed in three weeks' time for the network, which will be based on SMS as well as phone calls and will begin with a three-month trial membership costing Rs.350.
• 
   The service will connect major office-complex areas like Nariman Point in south Mumbai, Bandra-Kurla Complex in central Mumbai and Andheri and Juhu Malad in western Mumbai.
  
• ndia's fast-expanding passenger vehicle market is expected to nearly double to more than two million units by 2010
• Most Indian cities choke with pollution, blamed primarily on smoke-spewing public transport and taxis
• The system will also ensure optimum vehicle-occupancy and an economic travel option for commuters, particularly in the backdrop of the drastic hike in petrol and diesel prices announced by the central government.
• While single-use cars, particularly taxis can cost a bomb, when used on a shared basis, passengers have to pay just one-fourth of the total meter charge,"
• The NGO will concentrate mainly on the New Mumbai area
• It can perhaps also serve a social cause
• If the car pooling idea clicks with Mumbaikars, traffic could be brought down by close to 25 percent in just one and a half years
• This would result in a chain effect with smoother flow of traffic giving more space for commuter buses to ferry more number of people," Ashok maintained.

13 more annotations...

• Untimely and impractical,'' -that's the Maharashtra government's verdict on the proposal for a traffic restraint scheme (TRS) for Mumbai.
• Listing out its various transport and infrastructure projects, from MUTP rail projects, to flyovers, Metro Rail and the BRTS, the government on Wednesday informed the Bombay high court that the TRS was not an option.
• "Massive effort has been launched to improve Mumbai's public transport,'' said the affidavit-which was submitted to the court by assistant government pleader S K Nair-of transport commissioner Shyamsunder Shinde. "The state government along with the railways and other agencies are alive to the transportation challenges facing the city. Some projects have been completed, others are ongoing and their impact should be positive in easing the congestion
• Under the proposed scheme, which would be applicable during peak hours, vehicles with number plates ending with 1 and 2 would be barred entry into the island city on Mondays, those ending with 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays and 9 and 0 on Fridays.
• The TRS had been put forth as a substantial proposal to ease the traffic problems on city roads, which witness an addition of 400 new vehicles every day.
• The government had, however, insisted that it was public transport projects that need attention. "There has to be an incentive to avoid the use of private vehicles,'' advocate Nair had told the court at an earlier hearing.

4 more annotations...

• Mumbai has several different bus systems, all owned by private companies
• As London developed a system, Mumbai would receive it approximately five years later
• Tram service in Mumbai began in 1870. It remained until the 1950s when people felt that the trams were becoming obsolete even though their passenger carrying capacity was 50% greater than buses, they were more energy efficient, cleaner and could be easily modernized. But, unfortunately the government did a study and ruled that buses would be more effective.
• The last tram ran in 1964. This was perhaps the first blow to transportation development in Mumbai

  • tram = train that goes in cities
• The second came in 1974 with the abolition of the trolley bus. The trolley bus was much like a bus, but it ran on electricity, was quiet and was able to follow routes that the large diesel buses could not run on.
• After the termination of these two systems, transportation development has been extremely difficult in Mumbai.
• The average distance traveled per passenger of mass transportation is 6 kilometers, nearly one-third the length of the island of Mumbai.
• Today one of the major problems in Mumbai is traveling distances.
• Because of the overcrowding on the mass transit system, many people are switching to scooters or mopeds.
• Also non-transportation uses of roads, such as squatting, slums and haphazard parking has not helped the situation much either. However, one of the major problems that Mumbai has with its transportation system is that it is not run by one governing body. All of the different modes of transportation are owned by different groups, both private and governmental. If they were able to forma city transportation agency, then perhaps progress towards better modes of mass transit, such as a subway, would be possible.

8 more annotations...

• Over the past decade, increased congestion and population density in Mumbai has  had a significant impact on the quality of life
• Navi Mumbai is also well connected through rail and road links with Pune, Nasik  and Thane, indicating the potential for the region to develop into a satellite  city to Mumbai in a fashion similar to the emergence of Gurgaon and Noida as  satellites to New Delhi.
• Transportation has been one of Mumbai’s biggest problems. The city, with its  present population of over 12 million, generates about 14 million trips a day,  with about 88 per cent of the, trips catered to by the suburban railway and the  public transport bus services provided by Bombay Electricity Supply &  Transport (BEST).
• The Project consists of construction of a 8-lane bridge across the deep sea  through the Mumbai Harbour and connects to local road networks through  approaches / interchanges at both ends
• The existing Suburban Rail Service carries about 6 million passengers every day,  while the public bus transport system carries about 4.5 million passengers every  day.
• These projects are expected to improve traffic conditions within Mumbai.  However, with the population of Mumbai expected to grow at a rate of 3.1% per  year to 16 million by 2011, expansion of the city across the mainland would be  inevitable to ease congestion. In the absence of such a development, the  exploding population will have only two equally unpalatable alternatives open –  either to expand into the far flung suburbs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region  outside of Greater Mumbai, from which commuting to Mumbai would be synonymous  with long distance travel; or retain the population within the already congested  regions, which would lead to the population density rising well above saturation  level.
• The southern half of Navi Mumbai with over 2,500 hectares of land available for  housing presents an opportunity to decongest Mumbai
• Trains designed to accommodate approximately 1700 passengers, carry roughly 4500  passengers during the peak hours. The population growth in city has resulted in  the vehicular population increasing from 0.15 million in 1971 to 1.29 million in  2001.
• The estimated base construction cost of the project based on experiences of  similar bridges in India is approximately Rs. 40,000 million. This includes the  cost of approaches, the bridge across the sea, bridge furniture, ancillary  structures, traffic surveillance, illumination and environmental mitigation  measures, toll plaza, parking, etc.
• The total length of the link will be 22 km and will consist of approach roads,  viaducts on intertidal zone, bridge across deep sea and interchange at Chirle.
• The ever growing vehicular and passenger demands, coupled with constraints on  capacity augmentation of the existing network, have resulted in chaotic  conditions during peak hours.
• Apart from the beneficial impact of the MTHL on connectivity, population  dispersal and savings to commuters, other project beneficiaries include Mumbai  Port Trust, JNPT, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, CIDCO, MMRDA, Navi Mumbai  SEZ and various industries in the hinterland.
• the proposed Mumbai Trans Harbour Link has become a necessity. A number of  developmental initiatives proposed in the Navi Mumbai region will not only give  rise to additional traffic movement but also accentuate the need for greater  economic integration of Mumbai with mainland.
• expand of the city on the mainland across the Arabian Sea
• The proposed Mumbai Trans Harbour Link will therefore serve not only as an  economic gateway to Navi Mumbai but also a panacea to the problems faced by  Mumbai.
• The link will also strengthen the economic integration of Mumbai Island and  mainland Mumbai.

14 more annotations...

• all members of NetImpact, Pune, worked for nearly six months conducting an  elaborate survey of the traffic pattern.
• In the process, they identified the problems and registered the suggestions made  by IT professionals.
  
• . The group, which worked with corporates and NGOs working in the urban planning  sector, also judged the inclination of the IT  professionals  towards solutions such as car pooling and shared transport service.
  
• Pune has been recognised as a global industrial hub and Hinjewadi
• There are a large number of professionals travelling to Hinjewadi every day who  have to face major traffic problems daily''.
• The survey, which was carried out to first identify the problems and the  possible solutions, captured important points such as the available modes of  transport, the modes of transport used by the professionals, the locations from  where they come from and the present scenario where corporates manage their  fleet of buses in Hinjewadi.
• Lack of proper public transport facilities in Hinjewadi is one of the main  causes of the problem, he said.

  • Menon said this
• The report was then presented to the stake holders for better understanding of  the situation
• Menon said the details of the report, along with the recommendations, would soon  be made public at a programme where it would be discussed in detail by experts,  corporates and officials from government and semi-government departments.

7 more annotations...

• recounts going to a birthday party at a restaurant for a five-year-old and  finding that fathers found it impossible to speak to each other because the  music was turned on far too loud.
• the traffic police have silently booked as many as 36,000 drivers, which means  that they have got into the act without waiting for the silent zones to be  declared.
• The police have earned a windfall of Rs.42 lakhs in the crackdown, which only  goes to show that anyone who has the will can do wonders.
• This should make a case for the department to hire more traffic cops, who will  penalise motorists for parking offences as well.
• In Mumbai, Harish Baijal, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Traffic
• On 7 April last year, he designated a No Honking Day, with the help of many  citizens' organisations.
• One motorist interviewed by a newspaper had the temerity to state that the first  priority of the police was to regularise traffic, whatever he interpreted that  as meaning. "If you want to drive in Mumbai, you have to honk," he added for  good measure.
• The damage that noise does, not least to hapless pedestrians and residents of  arterial roads, is virtually ignored.
• Mumbai is said to be the third noisiest city in the world.
• The ill effects of noise are well established but however not known to most  people as they are not immediately visible or discernible
• Hardly anyone is aware of the health impacts of excessive noise
• In an interview last November, the well-known Mumbai-based health activist Dr R  K Anand
• recounts going to a birthday party at a restaurant for a five-year-old and  finding that fathers found it impossible to speak to each other because the  music was turned on far too loud.
• "It is little known that continuous exposure to such settings can cause  temporary or permanent deafness in children. Loss of hearing due to extreme  noise is well established. Young children and adults should know that if they  cannot talk to a person two metres away, the background noise level is downright  unsafe.
• Sounds above 85 dB may cause temporary hearing loss, as after one rock show or a  birthday party, but the loss may worsen and become permanent with frequent  exposure to noise
• the stress on the nerves which constant honking causes
• When Mumbai autos went off the roads some weeks ago over some dispute, the  silence on the city's streets was palpable
• The ill-effects of air pollution or excessive heat or poor sanitation have been  computed, but the full health and economic costs of stress due to noise haven't.
• Consider that only 4 per cent of Mumbai's commuters - as distinct from the total  population of 16 million - use private cars and another use 9 per cent taxis and  autos, this minority of 13 per cent imposes a very heavy (dare one say  deafening?) burden on pedestrians and residents. Needless to add, the  longer-term solution is to encourage public transport and deter motorised  transport of all kinds, not least because of the very harmful impact on the  climat

17 more annotations...

• involves the transport of millions of its citizens by train, road and water
• Over 88%^[1] of the commuters in  Mumbai use public transport (suburban trains or buses).
• It is the most convenient, efficient and cheap form of transport to a population  largely without sufficient income to afford cars.
• the train network is constantly struggling  to cope with the growing population.
• A train compartment is usually filled with over three times the passengers it  was meant for at peak hours, and there have been more than 20,000 deaths in the  last five years ^[2].
• This system is run by a government organization Brihanmumbai Electric  Supply and Transport, the "B" formerly standing for "Bombay". It has a fleet  of red single and double-decker buses. There are air conditioned and low floor  buses as well.
• Bombay saw its first bus run on 15 July 1926 between Afgan Church and Crawford Market
• Double deck buses were introduced in 1937 in order to cope better with the  growing traffic
• When the Corporation took over the Company in 1947, there were 242 buses in  operation on 23 routes and these buses carried 238,000 passengers per day.
• At present, there are 3380 buses carrying 450,000 passengers daily on 335  routes.
• • BEST has introduced semi deluxe and Air-conditioned services on certain  routes.
• The Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest  in Asia, it was founded in 1847. It is owned  by Indian Railways  and is operated by Western Railways and Central Railways.
• it claims to have the highest passenger density in the world, 6.1 million people  daily

11 more annotations...