Answer: 

Introduction:

The vision statement of the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) acknowledges that people occupy centre-stage, and that cities must evolve in a manner that supports the main social and economic activities taking place there. The objectives of the NUTP also broadly focus on making life easier for city residents. The NUTP aims to bring about equitable use of road space with people and not vehicles as the focus. This policy was created to motivate the building of people-centric urban transport solutions instead of focusing on improving the conditions for private motor vehicles.

 Body:

Strategies used by the government:

• Tied funds: Transport is a state subject, thus making the issue of access to the Central government a tricky issue. Considering this, the Centre had to include some components of NUTP in JNNURM, and make the funding dependent on the implementation.
  • This is how many cities have introduced BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System). This has also led states to explore setting up metros.
• The central government has initiated the Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) in partnership with Global Environment Facility (GEF), WB (World Bank) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• Policy of setting up mass public transportation – Metro in every city with large population i.e., above 2 million
• Encouraging a unified transport authority to plan for movement of people instead of separate body for Buses, Taxis, roads etc
• Increasing FSI in the city to increase concentration of population to discourage urban sprawl which entails long road commute, increasing number of vehicles causing traffic jams, GHG emissions, etc.

The positive impact of the policy can be seen in more people using public transports. However, various strategies of the Government like BRT, JNNURM, etc have not solved many of the problems.

Issues:

• Ignores needs of Differently abled and old people: NUTP ignores the transportation difficulties and challenges faced by physically disabled persons and aged people.
  The NUTP is more of a policy framework containing general guidelines rather than rules that are implemented.
• No pedestrian safety: The pedestrians do not get a safe, conflict free and obstruction free path to walk. The cyclists have to fight for the right of way with fast moving motorized modes of transport, many a times risking their lives.
  • Moreover, there is a lack of good quality, all-weather roads along with infrequent maintenance
• Difficulty in using public transport: The users of Public transport face long waiting periods, uncertainty in travel time and difficult conditions of travel.
• Huge deficit in urban transport services and infrastructure both in quality and quantity. The use of desirable modes like walking, bicycling etc. is declining. As a result, congestion is increasing. Road safety and the rising number of accidents are also a matter of concern.
  • India has hardly 12-13 buses per lakh population instead of 100 per lakh.

Conclusion:

There is a need for more equitable allocation of road space with people, rather than vehicles. Besides, intelligent transport systems should be introduced and institutional mechanisms for enhanced coordination between agencies and between agencies and people should be established. The government needs to incentivise the popularity of electric and other non-polluting modes of transport, apart from encouraging the usage of public transport among the people by addressing these issues. This would lead to enhanced savings for the government in terms of lower infrastructure costs, lesser trauma spending and savings on fuel imports.

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