New Delhi: With the new travel restrictions in place, public transport users in the capital are in for a tough time ahead with long queues of commuters outside metro stations over the last two days. Transport experts say that there is a need to make short and long term plans to address these challenges in order to stop public transport users from switching to personal vehicles.
Under level 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for the implementation
New Delhi: With the new travel restrictions in place, public transport users in the capital are in for a tough time ahead with long queues of commuters outside metro stations over the last two days. Transport experts say that there is a need to make short and long term plans to address these challenges in order to stop public transport users from switching to personal vehicles.
Under level 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for the implementation of Covid restrictions, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the public transport buses can operate with 50% of their seating with no standing passengers allowed.
With a 400 km-long network in Delhi-NCR, the Delhi Metro has become a transport lifeline in the capital.
Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning at the School of Planning and Architecture, said, “There is an urgent need to augment the capacity of the public transport infrastructure. The Metro should add more coaches and the number of public transport buses should be increased so that commuters don’t face problems. This will also prevent people from switching to personal vehicles for their daily commute.”
He said that private bus operators can be roped in, like when the odd-even scheme was in operation.
Due to the restrictions, the carrying capacity of a six-coach Metro train, which usually can hold 1,800 passengers, has come down to between 300 and 400. Transport experts say that Metro systems are designed to provide standing capacity in order to carry a large number of commuters. DMRC officials said that as per the restrictions, one coach can now only host between 50 to 70 people.
The Delhi government currently has a fleet of over 6,700 Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster buses. When allowed to operate to their full capacity, including standing passengers, they carry together 4.2 million people every day. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said that while augmenting the bus fleet will provide immediate relief to commuters, measures should also be planned for short distance travel.
“A lot of people use public transport or personal vehicles for short distance travel within 3-4 km. There is a need to develop efficient and safe walking and cycling infrastructure so that people can walk or cycle. Staggered working hours will also help in bringing down the pressure on the public transport system during peak hours,” she said.
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