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.
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