NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has modified the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy to improve public transit ridership, reduce vehicular congestion, and enable development around upcoming modes of public transit such as Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), light rail transit (LRT), or Metro Lite.
DDA approved the amendments on Thursday in a meeting which was chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. According to senior officials, the policy has been modified to leverage existing and upcoming public transit infrastructure and integrated land use and transport in the city. The preliminary approval to revise the policy was given in December after objections and suggestions were invited. The modified TOD policy will now be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for its approval and final notification.
According to the authority, following the consultation with major mass transit agencies such as Indian Railways (IR), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) and real estate developers of National Capital Region (NCR), the most pragmatic modifications were proposed in the larger public interest.
“The revised policy can potentially improve public transit ridership, reduce vehicular congestion, and reduce greenhouse emissions and pollution in the long term. Apart from the metro and railway stations, it will also enable node-based transit-oriented development around upcoming modes of public transit BRTS, LRT, Metro Lite and Metro-Neo thus making the TOD policy of Delhi future-ready. The revised policy will allow mass public transit agencies to utilise their operational area like tracks, stations, depots, etc. for development, facilitating the use of more effective and sustainable operation and maintenance models for the transit agencies,” said an official.
The TOD maximises access to public transport in a residential, commercial or mixed-use area. A TOD neighbourhood typically has a centre with a train station, metro station, or bus station, which is surrounded by relatively high-density development. The idea is to ease households’ spending on housing and transportation. The compact development under the Transit Oriented Development policy ensures ample provision of open and green spaces, up to 30 per cent of the total area with at least 20 per cent as public green space, promoting walkable precincts in the TOD nodes.
12 NODES IDENTIFIED
L-G Anil Baijal on Wednesday asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to draw a timeline for phase wise activities for effective monitoring and timely completion of the project based on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy. In the first phase, these 12 transit nodes have been identified for development under TOD policy:
Kashmere Gate multi-modal transit hub
Nizamuddin--Sarai Kale Khan multi-modal transit hub
Anand Vihar multi-modal transit hub
New Delhi Railway station
Dwarka Sector-21 metro station
Dwarka Sector-8 to Sector-14 metro stations corridor
Jangpura RRTS station
Haiderpur Badli Mor metro station (Mukarba Chowk)
Rohini Sector-18 metro station
Mukundpur metro station
Karkardooma pink and blue line metro stations*
Trilokpuri metro station
*Work on the TOD project at Karkardooma has already begun