On the contrary, all of the developed countries (excluding the United States where the historic emphasis has been on building highways instead of rapid transit) recognize the importance of an efficient, sustainable, fast and reliable public transit system which should cater to people from all financial, social and cultural backgrounds. The environmental benefits of public transport are numerous.There is a viral picture (below) going rounds on internet about an experiment conducted in Germany demonstrating the space required to transport 60 people via cars, bus and bikes.
The answers to these questions were provided by the Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil in 1972. Mayor Jaime Lerner, came up with the brilliant idea of developing Bus Rapid Transit System(BRTS). Lerner, who had a background in Architecture and urban planning, brought his expertise to his rapidly growing city. He accommodated growth without the usual repercussions associated with it, such as sprawl and congestion. Since then his ideas have been applied from Bogota to Mexico City to Istanbul. "Bus rapid transit is the name given to sophisticated bus systems that have their own lanes on city streets. These systems use bus stations instead of bus stops, a design feature that allows passengers to pay before boarding the bus. This allows for faster, more orderly boardings,similar to those of metro or light rail systems."
The main reasons why cities are opting for BRTS are its cost-effectiveness and convenience while being user-friendly and green. Building a heavy rail system, like subway costs 10 times more than the BRTS whereas, the Light Rail Transit found in most European countries mounts up to 4 times more than the estimated costs of the BRTS. Also, BRTS can be installed in just 2 years whereas subways can take up to ten years to build. A short video below explains the operating costs of various transit options.
Perhaps, the biggest challenge transit planners will face is how to make the affluent classes (which are owners of 90 percent of the single occupancy vehicles in the developing world) use the public transport. The car owners in developing world consider it a taboo to travel on public transport and people who do use it feel humiliated due to their lower social class. The challenge here is to make people use the public transport without feeling bad about themselves or those around them.This transition is what will be the hardest to achieve in my opinion. This challenge was also voiced by the ex-mayor of Bogota, Enrique Penalosa, in his tweet that went viral and gave us one of the most insightful quote about urban transit planning. Following is that tweet, translated into English,
Very well written... You raised a very important point that transit system should be good enough to lure the middle class and upper class into using or preferring the transit system. It is no doubt an issue to get the car owning class of the third world to change habits. I guess government can enforce people to use only public transits on at-least two days a week or as increase taxes on gas so most people start preferring cheap transport.
ReplyDeleteThough whats important to people is not just cheap and good condition transit.. As the case is people also need these transits to be punctual and fast. I point the example of Karachi, where we have very big network of public and government buses but they ain't that punctual. Hence to an office going person its not a very good option.
Finally educating pubic to use these transits is very important. They need to feel the ownership of the municipal property, and hence not misuse it. A survey of newly started Lahore Metro Bus shows that of the people using metro bus only 20% are the ones who use to get to work, institutions or to actually go some where of the remaining 80%, 40% are those who just ride it end to end just for experience and other 40% ride it from 10 AM to 10 PM just to pass time.
I think you have raised a very excellent point that we should all look into. Please expand more in your next blog, I will be waiting. Anyways, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeletethanks for the support and please come back for more.
Delete"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation."
ReplyDeletei am glad you liked thsi quote. :)
DeleteThis is an excellent summary of the move for more efficient transportation. Other than Brazil, is there any successful BRTS programs occurring in the global south? I also feel like a significant amount of pressure is put on urban areas to reduce congestion, improve air quality, etc.... But what about those in the rural areas who cannot reliably get to work everyday? Is there some sort of way that a public transportation could be constructed to benefit not only to the urbanites, but also those in the rural areas. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI agree that rural populations in the global South are highly marginalized and this marginalization is reflected in the modes of transport too. The modes of transport for rural people, if any, are really dilapidated. In my opinion, to keep rural people in the loop, a mix of efficient and functional railway system plus Bus Rapid Transit would be more efficient, which connects the village/town with the city. I say that because, many developing countries do have the infrastructure or requisite expertise to run a railway system, what mars them from performing their best is corruption rampant in the system. If I am living in a village and want to go to the city for school/work etc, I should be able to board a train, get to the city and then take the Bus to my destination on time. How to reach a train station is probably something obscure since so many modes of transportation are in picture at that point. In my opinion, this mix of travel options will cater best to the needs of poor people as long as trains are not late and run frequently. A well-kept railway is probably the best thing for the rural economy.
DeleteThe BRTS is being operated in Istanbul, Mexico City, Santiago and Bogota. It just started its operations in Lahore, Pakistan. In my next blog entry, I plan to discuss its operations in Istanbul because I firsthand travelled on it and Lahore because I witnessed it's construction while I was there this summer.
This is a very good resource for further research http://www.embarq.org/en/node/28
Thanks for your insightful comments and questions.
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ReplyDeleteHi Ehtesham,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to comment.
I definitely agree with your suggestions. This high tax idea has been sucessfully applied in many cities. Best example of that would be London,UK where parking fees in Downtown London are too high. It deters even the middle class people to indulge in parking there in peak hours. This encourages Tube and Bus use.
Efficiency in transportation is absolutely a concern. I found the transport system in Lahore to be reliable but my concern was more towards the cleanliness and safety side (they still travel on top of the buses in Lahore).
I think it would be fair to give the Lahore Metro a few months before conducting such surveys considering the fact that it started functioning just last week. The first week was free so it is definitely understandable why people went crazy. Trust me I would have had done the same. But now, there is a ticket in place (I like the fact that it is very affordable) and also a plea is placed in papers by the Chief Minister so we should expect the things to get better. My next blog entry will be about the metro in Lahore, so please come back for more. I am looking forward to your comments and suggestions. Thanks
ofcourse London is what I had in mind too. Yes ofcouse cleanliness and safety standards should be met, to enforce them it should be regulated by some governing body, like JCIA does for Hospitals.
DeleteI know its too early to make survey's about Lahore Metro, but I hope the point got across. What I want to say is public need to be little more mature too. I now feel the example of Lahore Metro was not befitting. So I point your direction towards the destruction of Railway assets all across Pakistan, upon martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto. People burnt out almost more than half of the engines and numerous carriages. This attitude to vent out on Public Beneficent property needs to be cured.
I will look forward to your post on Lahore Metro.
This was a very educating article. I wanted to ask that do you know of any developing countries where LRT and subways systems are being operated?
ReplyDeleteHi Sumbal,
DeleteYes all BRIC (Brazil,Russia,India and China) countries are trying to invest in a great transportation network. India is investing in a BRTS in Mumbai.
It sound so good , but the only thing that is bothering me is ..WILL the automobile industry let it happen ??WILL The OIL INDUSTRY Say YES to it ?? what you have asked is a huge money game in the terms of foreign exchange & PEOPLE Behind it Will they every let this happen??? besides people love to own a CAR no matter from which country you are living in !and .. specially when its IMPORTED from USA Or any other DEVELOPED COUNTRY ! who are producing it on daily bases and of-course they are people who work there(Every country is facing recession ever wonder what will happen to those).
ReplyDeleteHi Hyra,
DeleteYour comment is very insightful and raises many pertinent questions. The answer to your questions is increased government regulations in the transit sector and giving operational freedom to the transit sector, as done in many European and rapidly developing countries such as Brazil, Russia,India and China. The reality of the situation at hand is that, although making cars is the forte of the developed world and it helps the economy in these countries, it does not play a lot of role in the development process of the poor countries. The reason is that most of the cars in developing countries are imported from the West (just like you pointed out) which doesn't create jobs for people in the South. The best way to ensure maximum economic growth in these countries is an effective mix of roadways and railways. But as I pointed out earlier, greater planning and operational wisdom is required and expected from the leaders in these countries. US is one of those countries which lags behind in good transit in developed world due to its historic investment in highways instead of roadways, but even several US states are now investing in effective transport.
Thanks for your great comment. Please do come back with further insightful and challenging queries .
Great post! I think transit is something that North America needs to become more invested in as well. Currently, people seem to think of transit as a negative thing that only poor people who cannot afford cars take. Attitudes need to change to make it a positive thing and transit systems need to change so that transit is a desirable thing.
ReplyDeleteDarrelle, your understanding of the issue is commendable. Transit has to be freed of the taboos associated with it. We should hope that things will get better in the future, both for the North and the South.
DeleteAwesome post Sumbal! As someone really interested in planning issues, I really enjoyed your insight. I think transit is going to be the way forward in both the developing and developed parts of the world, considering the inefficiency and pollution of cars. It's the only way I think we can move towards sustainability. My question is though, how do we convince governments t invest in transit? We know it's benefits longterm, however, governments generally think in the terms of their time in office only so they don't tend to invest in long term projects.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a huge problem. Political egos and tussles destroy a lot of good urban initiatives. I think grassroots level understanding of these issues could be an answer to your question. Transit is no doubt a very contentious issue. Truly visionary leaders understand its importance. What do you think?
DeleteI had never heard of the BRTS before and I kinda wish Waterloo had something like them. What are the drawbacks to BRTS? Does the setup of lanes cost more than the old fashioned bus systems? Would road upkeep cost more with extra lanes? Does it mean choosing between having a bike lane and the BRTS lane?
ReplyDeleteAlso, on the negative perceptions of public transit: it's sad that people think that way. Our minds are supposed to be flexible, but ideology is one of the biggest hurdles to cleaner and affordable transport.