Pedestrian planning in India

Lest any of you think that I am here merely to eat lots of Indian food and enjoy the lovely scenery, I will now finally post about my work here this summer.

I am working with EMBARQ, a non-profit organization that helps developing countries design sustainable transportation systems. I am involved with initiatives that EMBARQ is working on in Indore, a city of 1.5 million that is the commercial and educational capital of Madhya Pradesh. I am working with the city engineers to help improve pedestrian infrastructure in Indore, a project that I am more or less in charge of. I've also gotten the chance to sit in on a few conversations regarding Bus Rapid Transit lines that are being planned for Indore, as EMBARQ is providing technical assistance for this project, though my work remains primarily on pedestrian facilities.

Pedestrian planning is sorely needed here. I can only speak for two cities so far (Mumbai and Indore), but my experience has been that sidewalk coverage is spotty and pedestrians are generally under siege from cars. When they are present footpaths are frequently crumbling, too narrow for the number of pedestrians present, or obstructed by utility boxes, bus stops, and street vendors. Opportunities to cross the street are few and far between and usually involve darting through traffic (remember Frogger?). Motorists have no respect for pedestrians (though, to be fair, pedestrians also attempt some pretty stupid things). I suspect that for a long time, pedestrian planning was not needed because streets were dominated by pedestrians or less imposing vehicles (bicycles, motorcycles, and rickshaws). Now that the country is rapidly motorizing, the problem is becoming more acute. I would rank pedestrian safety as one of the most pressing public health issues here. Apparently, its not just my perception either. Below are a couple of examples of the shortfalls of pedestrian infrastructure in Indore.

Cars take over the sidewalk, whenever allowed



Where is this crosswalk leading to?



Where is the sidewalk?



It would be unfair to criticize India for not having developed a mentality of planning for pedestrians. The U.S. didn’t exactly make planning for pedestrians a priority during most of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the Indian government, at all levels, seems hell-bent on developing a driving society. Cities are constructing flyovers that tear through neighborhoods and widening roads far beyond levels that current traffic can justify. The country has identified the automotive industry as a growth sector and is seeking to help the industry by promoting mass auto ownership. An Indian designed auto for the middle class family – the Nano – will soon hit the market. Politicians seem to equate car ownership with affluence and driving with national prestige. Big construction projects more than intelligent and targeted infrastructure investments are signs of progress here.

Coming from the U.S. it is easy to foresee that India will run into major problems if it tries to achieve U.S. levels of auto ownership. (which seems to be the goal). Putting aside the fact that a billion cars on the road here would push us all past a global climate tipping point, mass motorization here just isn’t feasible. For one thing, I suspect the central government has grossly underestimated the cost of building (and maintaining) an interstate highway style system. But the economy is growing rapidly here and politicians are willing to spend on infrastructure for the foreseeable future. I think the barrier that will be hit more immediately is road space. There just isn’t enough road space for many more drivers here. Indian cities are so dense and even at low auto ownership rates already very congested. If the U.S., with low density cities and expansive, well engineered highways cannot solve its congestion problems, there is simply no way India can have a road network that is not a complete parking lot once more people own vehicles. EMBARQ is trying to convince the government that it can invest in its auto industry and build infrastructure mega projects by building buses, exclusive bus lanes, and other transit projects. Unfortunately its not a popular argument right now. Only time will tell how much space India will give over to parking and flyovers before they realize they have created an impossible-to-tame congestion beast.

Back to my project. A few years back, the city of Indore received funds from the central government to widen/resurface a number of roads that are feeder routes to the BRT corridors it is planning. Thankfully, sidewalks got included in the project scope. The city is now about halfway through the road improvements and EMBARQ has decided to do a mid-project evaluation. Our goal is to applaud the Municipal Corporation (the city) for work done well and identify areas for improvement before any more money is spent. I have spent the past couple weeks designing a framework with which to score the sidewalks here, essentially a rubric to grade them on how well they meet all of the needs of pedestrians (safety, convenience, comfort, adequate opportunities to cross, protection from the elements, etc.) I have also traveled to Indore twice now to meet the city engineers and to get a brief tour of some of the streets they have worked on.

The city engineers seem receptive to my help. The head engineer in particular seems to like the idea of an American engineering student coming with fresh ideas. I saw one road that they had constructed with segregated bike lanes. Unfortunately, the lane was the width of a normal vehicle lane (though separated by a curb) and there was no indication of what it was intended for. Predictably, it had been taken over by car parking. I told the engineer that he should paint bicycles in the lane so cyclists would know that the lane was for them. I told him that there are enough cyclists in Indore that if they start using it, their shear number should be enough to keep cars out of the lane. I also mentioned that it would be super cheap - just the cost of paint and labor (which is of course cheap here). He liked the idea. Actually, he said, "Yes, if we decorate the NMV (non-motorized vehicle) carriageway, the 2-wheelers will know it is for them. We may try this." He got on the phone with someone immediately afterwards, and I actually think it may have been to tell someone to paint the bike lanes. I will have to stay on him about it.

The engineers seem excited about ideas I can contribute. They want me to draw up some alternative street alignment ideas. I also have a number of ideas about simple traffic calming techniques they can introduce that would be cheap retrofits to the roads they have worked on and would dramatically improve things for pedestrians. The good news is they have included footpaths on most of the roads they have paved. There is much they can do better, particularly finding ways to keep cars and motorcycles from parking on the sidewalks and to find ways to accommodate street vendors on the sidewalks. Still, just having sidewalks there is a really good starting point. The goal for the rest of the summer is to put together a semi-technical but easy to read brochure and write a paper about pedestrian design in Indore. I also am preparing a presentation to give to the city engineers at some point.

I will be blogging about my work separately on EMBARQ's blog. My coworkers are also blogging there about their work, as are EMBARQ's other offices around the world. It's worth a look. I will keep you all updated on my work here too though. I'll post soon with a case study on one of the streets in Indore that I have become attached to remaking.

Trains, Rain, and Spices

I ride the suburban rail to work everyday. The suburban rail is much like a commuter rail in U.S. cities - bringing workers from outer suburbs to downtown Mumbai - with the notable exception that many people access their suburban station using cabs or auto rickshaws. The Mumbai suburban rail moves an astronomical number of people: 6 million passengers per day. Perhaps even more astonishing is the fact that the suburban rail operates at 180 percent of capacity. Like much of the infrastructure in Mumbai, the train has been unable to keep pace with population growth. On the congested routes, people are crammed into every last space and then some.

I am lucky to have a reverse commute. I live downtown and travel towards the suburbs, so I do not have to ride super-crowded trains on a daily basis. I do feel the effects on my walk to the train station. I start to encounter waves of people five blocks in advance of Churchgate Station, where I board the train. Unfortunately, they are all leaving the station as I am trying to enter it. Its an experience much like swimming against a strong current. I have to get some momentum going to not be knocked over as I walk to my train.

Occasionally, I go hang out with my coworkers in Bandra (a suburb north of Mumbai) after work. We usually take the train. As you can see, there is literally no space left unfilled. People start making their way through the crush of humanity towards the door 5 stops in advance of where they need to get off to be sure they will have adequate time to fight their way to the door.



Of course, for those who don't want to be part of the pushing, shoving, and squeezing, there is always the option of hanging out the door. This is actually a quite popular option. These are prized spots on the train. Hanging out means not only that you can easily get off when the train gets to your stop, but also that you get to feel the breeze. Unfortunately, lots of people die this way. In fact, lots of people die on the Mumbai suburban rail to begin with. An NGO recently filed a freedom of information request with the Mumbai police that revealed that, on average, 10 people per day die on the trains. Many fatalities happen from people crossing the tracks, rather than walking a bit further to take the pedestrian bridge over the tracks. Unfortunately, nearly all of the fatalities are easily avoidable.



The Mumbai trains are horrendously overcrowded and there is much that could be done to improve safety. All things considered, though, its tough not to admire the sheer number of people that the system moves daily.

After steadily increasing each day, the rain has dropped off some. We've been limited to severe but brief storms during the night recently. The impending monsoons are still on everyone's mind though. Everyday I find myself discussing how the rains are almost here with several different people. Some days, when I get back downtown from work, the sky is filled with threatening grey clouds and the light filtering through the clouds has an ominous yellowish tint to it. Still though, we've yet to had any flooding or sustained rains...

I visited a spice market the other day. The market stretched for two city blocks, along which every shop was open to the street and sold an array of different spices, chilis, and bulk grains. Between the turmeric, the piles of chilis, and the different varieties of lentils, it was a brilliantly colored place. Spices are often bought in their unground form here (turmeric root or curry leaves, rather than the already ground powders, for instance). The two exceptions are a number of masala blends and after-meal fennel blends (the fennel blends are often chewed on after dinner as a breath freshener). Walking made the market made me think what it must have been like for the Portuguese who arrived in India hundreds of years ago and saw all of these spices for the first time. I get similar thoughts when eating here sometimes. Even though almost every spice used in Indian cooking is widespread in the U.S., I sometimes feel we haven't acheived the mastery of their use that some of the cuisines here have.





I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go to Indore for a couple of days for work. I'm conducting an evaluation of the pedestrian infrastructure there. I will be seeing the city for the first time and meeting with an engineer from the public works department. I'll post soon with more details.

First, Second, and Third Impressions

This entry was initially intended to be my first impressions, but because it has taken me so long to finish writing that it has become much more. For those of you who I haven’t had a chance to tell personally, I am living in Mumbai for the summer. I apologize that I haven’t had a chance to tell everyone I would have liked to tell. I found out rather late in the game that I would be going to India and thereafter my life was a whirlwind of finishing up school and preparing to leave. I am just now getting settled enough to write about my experiences thus far.

I am working with EMBARQ, an NGO with offices in major developing cities around the world that advocates for and helps local governments plan sustainable urban transportation. In India, EMBARQ is working on initiatives like planning bus rapid transit in a few cities, reforming the auto rickshaw sector, and generally helping to prevent Indian cities from being completely given over to cars. I would have been excited to take this position simply because I think EMBARQ does such important work; the fact that I get to live in India for a summer was a fantastic bonus. More about exactly what I’m doing in a bit.

I arrived on May 27, a little over a week ago. I spent my first few days exploring the city and searching (not very actively) for a place to live for the summer. Finding housing for two months is tricky: most realtors want an entire month’s rent as a move-in fee (not worth it for a two month lease) and sublets are harder to come by here. I bounced around between a few different places before eventually settling in a housing situation that, I think, is where I will be for the summer. I was originally in the YMCA international house, which is really more of a hotel, and was nice but a bit too expensive for the whole summer. I did stay in an interesting neighborhood as a result of being in the YMCA that I might not otherwise have seen.

I then moved to a backpackers’ hostel which was dirt cheap and in a state of repair to match its price. The combination of complete disrepair (in particular the plumbing never worked), lack of a/c, and some obnoxious travelers (the type who are disrespectful of the country they are traveling, who want to be in a place but spend most of their time partying in a hostel rather than going and experiencing the country) made me quickly realize that the hostel also would not do. I hate to feel needy of luxuries like a/c and a shower, but I think since I am mostly staying in one city and working here for the summer I am in a different mind frame than if I were traveling around for the summer.

I finally found a hotel where I negotiated a special rate to stay for the summer. The manager initially wanted 1200 Rs per night for the room, but I got him to come down to 700 Rs per night since I am staying for two months. I have heard and it has been my experience thus far that India is a face-to-face society, and that most deals are reached through some haggling. I think it was a good experience to have to negotiate my housing situation. It catapulted me along towards greater acculturation.

My housing search took me through a couple neighborhoods. I was initially in a neighborhood that is on the periphery of a very Muslim district. One of my co-workers has since told me that this district is often referred to as Little Pakistan. I spent much of my first couple of days walking around this part of town. I had already begun to suspect that this was a more Muslim neighborhood based on the number of animals kept, the number of vendors selling meat, and the amount of Arabic writing. If I wasn’t convinced, I became absolutely certain when at midday on Friday loudspeakers from a mosque started blaring and hundreds upon hundreds of Muslim men began to flock to the mosque for midday prayer. I was caught walking countercurrent to this wave of men and made my way to the side of the road for refuge. It was really quite a sight to watch. The faithful spilled out of the mosque and into the street in front of it, all on their knees in the center of their prayer mat. I walked around the town some during this hour (there was little else to do because all of the shops were closed) and realized that there were at least 10 mosques within about a 5 square block section, all of which were filled beyond capacity.

I’ve since moved from this neighborhood to Colaba, or South Bombay. Colaba is just south of the part of the town that contains most of the historic buildings. Compared to the first neighborhood I stayed in, Colaba is more “developed.” By developed I mean there are more traffic signals, paved roads, and fewer animals kept in the street. This makes it a hub for tourists. The street I live on is called the Colaba Causeway and has a number of high-end boutiques, jewelry stores, and U.S. fast food chains on it. My hotel is tucked away above one such boutique and I actually walked by it at least a dozen times before realizing it was there. I live right near a train station, several large parks (open space is severely lacking in this city!), many of the museums, and a couple blocks from the harbor. If I walk for a few minutes I can quickly get out of the more touristy stretch. I do this quite a bit because I get sick of the attention from street vendors who mistake me for a rich white tourist (rather than a poor college student NGO volunteer!). Many of the tourists in this neighborhood are wealthy Indians, but there are also a sizable number of European, East Asian, and African tourists. My first couple days I did not see any foreigners; now in Colaba I see at least a dozen each day.

I guess this has been mostly a discussion of where I've been...now for some impressions.

Being in Mumbai is truly non-stop sensory overload. Unceasing stimulus. The combination of a super dense mega city and culture that is anything but subtle is really quite potent. Initially the sounds of the city stood out to me, but these have actually started to fade into the background. I can always hear honking, noisy vehicles without mufflers, sales pitches and trains in the background. The vehicles and sales pitches are constant enough that I hardly notice them. The honking is at this point a nice, rhythmic sound. I wonder if I will start to miss it when its gone. The smells of Mumbai, in contrast, I don't think I will ever fail to notice. These are also ever-present and are both good and bad. They range from standing water in a street gutter, to incense, to garbage piles, to ripe fruit, to the exhaust of a 30 year old vehicle, to samosas or puri being cooked by a street vendor that smell delicious initially until you get close and the amount of butter and oil being used starts to make the good turn bad.

This city is very, very, very crowded. I had heard from everyone I had talked to about India to be prepared for crowds. Its not so much that they caught me off guard - its just that even after adjusting to the human density of Mumbai its still beyond comprehension. One of my coworkers who is a scholar of megacity development and politics told me that Mumbai has more than doubled in population between 1990 and today. A city of 8 million has become a city of 18 million in just 20 years, primarily through migrations from other cities and rural areas in India. The infrastructure and housing stock are simply not adequate for the current population of Mumbai. And even if there were resources, there simply wouldn't be space. Every time I leave the house, no matter the time of day or what block of the city I walk down, I encounter people. I suppose it makes the city safe. At the same time, it is occasionally frustrating that I can't go for a walk without bumping into people. I've taken to going to the park just to have a bubble of personal space. The park nearest to my home (in picture) is also a hub for cricket playing and is near Mumbai University, an example of the architecture left over from when the British were here.

The heat here was initially overwhelming, but is already starting to fade as monsoon season sets in. The first week I was here it was probably over 100 degrees and 85% humidity every day. I've certainly experienced weather like this in Texas before, but the lack of air conditioning (really a luxury here) was something new. This week has been cooler though, and we are starting to get a preview of monsoon rains. Each day this week there has been a quick, intense span of rain. They are getting longer each day and I know soon they will start and not stop. My coworkers told me that during severe rain days, we typically get a call telling us whether to come into work or not. There are lots of storm drains that are blocked with garbage so that many parts of the city flood and its unsafe to try and go into the office. Rain days here can be like snow days.

I really love how much of life takes place out in the streets here. The height of activity is from 7 pm to 10 pm, when all sorts of vendors come out and many streets convert into a bazaar. Most people here grab some sort of snack on their way home and then eat a later dinner. Traffic is so bad here that most people's commute doesn't end until around 8 pm (hence the snack and later dinner). I've definitely pieced together dinners of street food on a few occasions.

Well, this has gotten long, so I should sign off. I'll post again soon on my work, on a couple of sights in the city that I've seen, and on my favorite street food. By the way, the first picture in this posting is the city lit up at night (obviously). The lights are called the Queen's Necklace. My neighborhood (South Bombay) is off to the far right.