BKC’s Public Transport Day a dud; MMRDA firms up 3-point redressal plan

Transport experts said the drive was bound to fail as it was launched without the necessary planning and ground work

Mumbai: Nineteen weeks since the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) launched a drive to curb the use of private vehicles within the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Fridays, the initiative has been silently discontinued due to lack of adequate response from commuters, companies and auto and cab drivers.

While car-free Sundays are a common feature in global cities such as Bogotá, Mexico City, Jakarta and Manila, the BKC’s weekly Public Transport Day was a first-of-its-kind experiment focused specifically on a corporate and commercial district (Hindustan Times)

“We launched the drive to observe Public Transport Day at BKC every Friday on June 12. But people continued to bring their vehicles to work, and even auto drivers were not very supportive as they continued parking haphazardly. So the drive fizzled out by August end,” an MMRDA official said, requesting anonymity.

Transport experts said the drive was bound to fail as it was launched without the necessary planning and ground work.

“Before starting, the authorities should have strengthened the public transport system in the BKC. One cannot expect people to leave their vehicles and wait in the harsh sun or rain for autos and buses, which are very irregular,” said AV Shenoy, a member of the Mumbai Mobility Forum.

Dhaval Desai, Vice President, Observer Research Foundation, said the MMRDA should have conducted a rigorous assessment before implementing such grand plans and making tall claims.

“The metro rail has provided great connectivity, but the BKC station should have been planned somewhere in the G Block not at the mouth of the business district. People travelling to G Block have to rely on paratransit modes but the auto rickshaws are never around and mostly refuse trips,” he said.

Prep before launch

While car-free Sundays are a common feature in global cities such as Bogotá, Mexico City, Jakarta and Manila, the BKC’s weekly Public Transport Day was a first-of-its-kind experiment focused specifically on a corporate and commercial district.

To implement the drive, the MMRDA collaborated with the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), the traffic police, auto-rickshaw unions and World Resources Institute (WRI) India, a nonprofit. It also reached out to more than 60 companies which have their offices in the BKC, and surveyed more than 1,200 regular commuters.

MMRDA officials said several additional measures were taken to ensure a hassle-free Public Transport Day. Among these was a pedestrian infrastructure assessment and walking audit spanning 16.5 kilometres, covering accessibility, crossings and footpath conditions. A public transport assessment survey was also conducted over three days at four locations near the Bandra and Kurla railway stations. Depot managers at BEST, which operates 33 buses exclusively on four feeder routes to the BKC, were directed to operate all scheduled BKC-bound services and divert buses from other routes if required to meet additional demand. The BEST was also asked to improve services of its premium Chalo buses in the business district.

Lukewarm response

Sources in the MMRDA said that despite all efforts, first- and last-mile connectivity from the Bandra and Kurla railway stations and the BKC metro station continued to remain poor, auto rickshaws continued to torment commuters, and pedestrians rarely used footpaths for long stretches as there was hardly any shade or other amenities.

“We held meetings with auto rickshaw drivers in the BKC ahead of implementing the drive, to curb the menace of unregulated share autos. But auto drivers still refused to ply on meter, haphazardly parked their vehicles and continued seating more passengers than allowed, as usual,” an official said.

Accessibility barriers and lack of shade along footpaths also played a key role in the lukewarm response, officials said.

“Though the BKC has wide footpaths, there are accessibility barriers at 199 spots over 16.5 kilometres while 520 meters has no footpath. Moreover, since there is no shade or tree canopy in most stretches, walking under the scorching sun and heavy rains is very tedious,” the official said. Nearly 33% of the street length in the BKC has no shade while 40% has only partial shade, the official noted.

Another MMRDA official said multinational companies too had failed to appeal to their employees to give up their cars and opt for public transport.

Lessons for future

Sources in the MMRDA said that over the 12 weeks when the drive was implemented, they identified three key gaps that needed to be addressed to promote public transport in the long run.

“With regards to pedestrian connectivity, we have identified barriers at 23 spots spread over 3.7 km. There are 11 property gates along this stretch which can be opened to the public, besides six existing routes that need to be activated and six new routes which must be established through office complexes. We have asked the companies concerned to break walls that block free access to lanes, which can help bypass the main roads,” an official said.

There is also a need to develop all-weather footpaths with shading, dry-mist, and vertical greening, alongside ventilated foot over bridges. More buses need to be pressed into service too along feeder routes to reduce vehicular congestion, officials said.

“These three broad points need to be addressed to promote public transport and improve the ease of walking in the BKC. We will start implementing remedial measures starting this month itself,” the official quoted earlier said.