Urban mobility: Creating conditions for walking, cycling

A few days ago, it was reported that Delhi was to get its own walkability policy for the first time in its post-independence civic history. Nineteen areas had been identified for redesigning pavements and roads to improve walkability.

This is a hugely welcome, albeit much delayed, initiative in urban mobility. The last census of 2011 showed that half of India’s urban working population uses non-motorised transport, i.e. walking or cycling, on the journey to work, with walking being dominant among women and cycling among men. Conditions for using these modes of transport are poor in Indian cities with broken roads, lack of cycling paths, poorly lit streets, uncovered manholes and overcrowded pavements being the norm rather than the exception. Hence those who walk or cycle are often “forced walkers” and “captive cyclists”, i.e. low-income people who do so not out of choice but because they cannot afford to travel by public transport or own any means of private transport. Further, with population growth, cities have tended to expand in size and increased distances have made non-motorised modes difficult to use. The cyclist now travels much longer than before and as urban sprawl increases, there comes a point when cycling to work is no longer feasible. This, in turn, affects access to livelihoods for poor people who have no other way to reach the places where the jobs are — such as factories located in the suburbs. 

On Indian roads, not only is the adoption of non-motorised modes inconvenient, it is also dangerous as pedestrians and cyclists constitute 14 per cent of all road fatalities, according to a 2013 study by the World Health Organisation. A report by IIT Delhi’s Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPPS) brought out in 2017, showed that the share of walkers and cyclists is coming down in medium-sized cities since the 1990s as more and more people opt for some form of motorised transport deterred by the unsafe infrastructure and high risk involved.

When it comes to using the cycle to commute for work, there is a sharp gender divide. Among working women in urban India, only 4 per cent use the cycle to reach the workplace while 20 per cent of working men commute by cycle, as per the last census data. Women’s low share in cycling is because in most developing countries, when a household acquires a private means of transport, it is appropriated by the man of the house. Cars, bicycles, motorbikes and animal carts are seen as assets of the household over which men have primary claim. Thus, in a lower income household, when a cycle is purchased, the husband would use it for going to work while the woman will continue to walk to work. 

Besides, as the sari is still the most commonly worn attire among Indian women, the dress makes cycling both inconvenient and unsafe. Other socio-cultural reasons like being seen as “too modern” can also be barriers. Further, as women value safety in travel, the lack of cycle paths and a safe cycling environment deters more women from cycling.

Why should all this bother us? Cycles generate no noise pollution and emit no air pollutants. A better cycle infrastructure can play an important role in increasing the modal share of cycles and correspondingly reduce the reliance on motorized transport. Given that every winter, Delhi and many northern cities reel under pollution, cycle-friendly policies can help mitigate congestion on the roads and consequently the amount of vehicle emissions.

What do cycle-friendly policies involve? At the very basic level, this requires physical segregation of lanes for cycles, well-lit signages on the cycle paths and restricting cycles to certain roads during peak hours so that the risk of getting knocked down by a larger motorised vehicle is reduced. Designated parking spaces which are sheltered from the sun need to be provided not only in transit spots like railway stations but at various points in the road network. In Indian conditions, parking spaces for cycles need to be secure against theft by hiring security personnel or by providing good locking facilities such as wheel clamps or tiered racks found in some railway stations.

Apart from sustainability and easing travel for poor people who have no choice but to cycle, there are other positive fall-outs of improving, or providing, a decent cycle infrastructure, An analysis by TERI (The Energy Resources Institute) says that cycling for short distance trips can yield a benefit of Rs 1.8 trillion for the economy and cycling regularly for an average distance of 3.5 kilometres can prevent 4,756 premature deaths.

Delhi has just about woken up to improving road conditions for walkers. Here’s hoping that the awareness soon incorporates the other popular mode of travel — the cycle — and that other mega cities too realise that urban transport is about people, not vehicles.

The writer is an author and columnist