dead man walking: problems of urban pedestrians

aug 30th, 2009

couldn't get hold of mg badami's actual article, but here's the editorial on the topic. i have talked with mg before about bus rapid transit systems. he does not believe the metros are actually going to solve any problems: they will be obsolete the day they are built. plus the last-mile problem is huge.

he also pointed out how the lack of safe sidewalks are prompting parents to insist that their children not walk home from school, but get crammed into some dangerous, motorized transport like a rickshaw.

similarly, he told me his mother sometimes takes an auto to just cross the road in chennai, as trafffic is so bad. he also had some appalling photos of poor, terrified pedestrians trying to cross the road in bangalore, literally risking their lives several times.

the other point is that india's urban centers are vibrant, not ghettos like in the west. if motorized traffic is reduced or regulated they will be much more appealing. for instance, the ban on 3-wheelers (and 2-wheelers?) in downtown mumbai (coupled with the electric train being available) has made that area much more appealing.

there should be entire areas of downtown pune, bangalore, hyderabad, chennai, mumbai and delhi that are closed off to all motorized vehicular traffic, as pedestrian-only areas and malls. these have worked well in various places in the US, for instance san jose. revitalized downtowns, if prettified too, would be highly appealing to both residents and visitors. maybe bicycling can be revived as well with safe bike paths. this is the trend in europe, and hey, therefore it may catch on in india too. bikes may be the perfect last-mile solution if there are safe storage areas at the metro stations.

http://epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/13814.pdf