BENGALURU: Building good infrastructure, increasing public transportation networks, improving cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, levying additional tax on the purchase of new vehicles and improving policy on electric vehicles were some of the major measures recommended by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) mobility expert Ashish Verma.
He made these suggestions in his presentation titled ‘Manage Commute-2050’, one of the five-element seminars on sustainability urban ecology during the ‘Bengaluru 2050-Dialogues on Sustainability’. The programme was organised by Rotary international districts 3191 and 3192 in association with Sycon Global at IISc on Sunday.
He said excessive car ownership leads to high traffic congestion. Comparing data of other high GDP nations like the USA and Japan, where there are 600-800 cars per 1,000 population, he noted that India’s car ownership stands at 25 cars per 1,000 population and in Bengaluru specifically, 200 cars per 1,000 population, significantly lower than in wealthier economies.
“India’s economy is growing. However, we need to address the issue of increasing car ownership, which can lead to severe traffic congestion. As the economy grows, car ownership tends to increase. We must reconsider car policies and promote the use of public transportation, and walking infrastructure, strict rules on banning single-person car usage and imposing higher taxes on cars as they can help prevent excessive car ownership,” Verma said