BENGALURU: The call for people to move to public transport in Bengaluru will remain futile as long as footpaths are not in place. Safe and well-designed footpaths are the essential precursors to encouraging people to leave their private vehicles behind. But that is far from happening in Namma Bengaluru.
Except for a few places in the city, most of Bengaluru has either no footpaths or very poorly laid ones, which discourage people from using them. They prefer their own transport or walking on roads. And where there are proper footpaths, most are illegally encroached.
As per the Indian Road Congress (IRC) 103-2012, there are standard rules for footpath measurements. It lays down that for commercial areas, the minimum clear width of the footpath should be 2.5 metres, and if it is a high-intensity commercial area, the minimum width shall be 4 metres. If there is a shop frontage, the minimum width shall be 3.5-4.5 metres.
Chetan Sodaye, programme manager, Integrated Transport and Road Safety, World Resource Institute (WRI) India, says, “In any given case, minimum width clear of obstacles should be 1.8m. But it means that if there are trees or any utilities on the footpath, the width shall increase by 1.8m beyond the width of the obstacles.”Stressing on the crucial role of footpaths in urban mobility, Sodaye says, “Urban mobility is measured on how many people can move/travel in a given width in an hour in one direction. A Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) study on passenger travel capacity says if in a 3.5m width space we have mixed traffic (two-wheelers, autos, buses, cars, trucks etc) versus 3.5m of the footpath where people walk, in an hour the mixed traffic can only move 1,500 to 2,000 people, whereas a clear footpath can allow mobility of 15,000 people, which is at least 5-7 times more.”
If the footpath’s width, quality, continuous network and maintenance are good, then cases have shown that people shift to walking, at least for shorter distances between 500 metres to 3km, he says. “On Church Street in Bengaluru, DP Road of Aundh in Pune, Pondy Bazaar in Chennai and many such places, footfalls have increased after footpaths were widened and well-maintained,” Sodaye says.
Alongside good quality footpaths laid with the right durable materials, a separate tender should be in place every two to five years based on the type of footpath and usage, which should include various types of maintenance — cleaning, repair, waste management, re-painting, re-surfacing, drainage system cleaning, desilting, etc, points out Sodaye, adding that without this, even the best designed and constructed infrastructure will fail to provide good service.
Bane of encroachment
Prashant, an auto driver, says, “There are many parking complexes operated by government agencies and private players across the city. As they collect fees every hour, the first choice for people visiting commercial areas is to park their vehicles on footpaths to save money.” This adds to encroachment.
Civic activist and Bicycle Mayor Sathya Sankaran says, “Encroached footpaths are a symptom of a deeper malaise. Civic authorities spend a lot of time and money solving traffic jams caused by motor vehicles by expanding road space. The Jevons Paradox states that, in the long term, an increase in efficiency in resource use generates an increase in resource consumption rather than a decrease. More roads built will see them being used up even more. And as the streets get clogged, people jump to driving on footpaths….”
He says, “Despite data and evidence, we are making decisions worsening livability instead of making it better. Building cities where more people can walk and cycle or take public transport can increase the mental and physical wellbeing of citizens and improve livability.” Building continuous walking and cycling pathways connecting public transit and forming an independent network can wean people away from using private vehicles. You can use the same paradox to get more people to use well-built active mobility infrastructure.
Removing ‘actual’ encroachments, not vendors
Citizen activist Vinay Sreenivasa, who has been fighting for the rights of street vendors in Bengaluru, says post the corona pandemic, the percentage of self-employed people has gone up, and in urban areas, an important source of self-employment is street vending. “Even 10 years after the passage of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014, vendors are seen as illegitimate by BBMP and police,” said Sreenivasa.
Stating that the Supreme Court has maintained that vendors have a right to vend on footpaths as do pedestrians who have a right to walk, Sreenivasa batted for the implementation of the Street Vendors Act and removal of actual encroachments on the street (construction debris, parked vehicles, chairs of restaurants, illegal construction) adding that this will ensure that both street vendors and pedestrians can co-exist peacefully.
Need for strict enforcement
The first-of-its-kind Active Mobility Centre of Excellence set up at the Indian Institute of Science is planning to change the situation by bringing to attention deficits in active mobility infrastructure. Efforts across India have been ineffective due to non-availability of reliable measurement and evaluation tools. Political willpower and bureaucratic projects need to reprioritise these needs. There is no shortcut to enforcement. A concerted zero-tolerance effort by the police for at least two years with specifically recruited Active Mobility wardens and support from the long-pending first-of-its-kind Active Mobility Bill being passed in the assembly, will be a good start.