Transportation In India

Introduction

Transport in the Republic of India is an important part of the nation's economy. With a land area of 3,287,240 km2 (1,269,210 sq mi), and an estimated population of 1,028,737,436, transport in India is both a necessity as well as a convenience. Since the economic liberalization of the 1990s, development of infrastructure within the country has progressed at a rapid pace, and today there is a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air. However, the relatively low GDP of India has meant that access to these modes of transport has not been uniform. Only around 10% of households own a motorcycle (about 102,873,744 people). Cars are owned by the wealthier few — around 0.7% of households owned one in 2007 (about 7,201,163 people). Public transport still remains the primary mode of transport for most of the population, and India's public transport systems are among the most heavily utilized in the world.

Despite improvements, several aspects of transport are still riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure and a burgeoning population, and demand for transport infrastructure and services have been rising by around 10% a year. Taxes and bribes are common between state borders, and Transparency International estimates that truckers pay annually $5 billion in bribes. Although India has only 1% of the world's vehicles, it accounts for 8% of the world's vehicle fatalities. India's cities are extremely congested — the average bus speed is 6–10 km/h in many large cities. Because of the congestion in Indian roads the fuel efficiency of the vehicles is also very low. This increases the overall fuel consumption of the country besides creating huge pollution since the engines run very inefficiently at such low speeds. India's rail network is the longest and fourth most heavily used system in the world. India's growing international trade is putting strain on the ports in India. The country's overburdened airports have just begun to get a makeover, with modernization work and greater investment in the aviation sector. In general, public transport suffers from outdated technology, incompetent management, corruption, over staffing, and low worker productivity.

   

    A) Local transport

Public transport is the predominant mode of motorized local travel in cities. This is predominantly by road, since commuter rail services are available only in the four metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata, while dedicated city bus services are known to operate in at least 17 cities with a population of over one million. Intermediate public transport modes like tempos and cycle rickshaws assume importance in medium size cities. However, the share of buses is negligible in most Indian cities as compared to personalized vehicles, and two-wheelers and cars account for more than 80 percent of the vehicle population in most large cities.

Traffic in Indian cities generally moves slowly, where traffic jams and accidents are very common. India has very poor records on road safely—around 90,000 people die from road accidents every year. A Reader's Digest study of traffic congestion in Asian cities ranked several Indian cities within the Top Ten for worst traffic.

Public transport

1. Buses

Buses take up over 90% of public transport in Indian cities, and serve as a cheap and convenient mode of transport for all classes of society. Services are mostly run by government owned state transport corporations. Most passenger buses use the standard truck engine and chassis and are not economical for city use — there are virtually no buses in India specifically designed for urban conditions. As a result, available urban mass transport services are overcrowded, unreliable, and involve long waiting periods. However, after the economic liberalization, many state transport corporations have introduced various facilities like low-floor buses for the disabled and air-conditioned buses to attract private car owners to help decongest roads. Bengaluru was the first city in India to introduce Volvo B7RLE intra-city buses in India in January 2006.

New initiatives like Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems and air conditioned buses have been taken by the various state governments to improve the bus public transport systems in cities. Bus Rapid Transit systems already exist in Pune, Delhi and Ahmadabad with new ones coming up in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. High Capacity buses can be found in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Chennai. Bengaluru is the first Indian city to have an air-conditioned bus stop, located near Cubbon Park. It was built by Airtel. The city of Chennai houses Asia's largest bus terminus, the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus. On the first of June , 2009, to celebrate their first anniversary, the Government of Karnataka and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation flagged off a pro-poor bus service called the Atal Sarige. The service aims to provide low-cost connectivity to the economically backward sections of the society to the nearest major bus station.

2. Auto Rickshaws

An auto rickshaw is a three wheeler vehicle for hire that has no doors and is generally characterized by a small cabin for the driver in the front and a seat for passengers in the rear. Generally it is painted in yellow, green or black color and has a black, yellow or green canopy on the top, but designs vary considerably from place to place.

In Mumbai and other metropolitan cities, 'autos' or 'ricks' as they are popularly known have regulated metered fares. A recent law prohibits auto rickshaw drivers from charging more than the specified fare, or charging night-fare before midnight, and also prohibits the driver from refusing to go to a particular location. Mumbai is also the only city which prohibits these vehicles from entering a certain part of the city, in this case being South Mumbai. In Chennai, it is common to see auto rickshaw drivers demand more than the specified fare and refuse to use fare meter.

Airports and railway stations at many cities such as Bengaluru, and Hubballi-Dharwad provide a facility of prepaid auto booths, where the passenger pays a fixed fare as set by the authorities for various locations.

3. Taxi

Most of the traditional taxicabs in India are either Premier Padmini or Hindustan Ambassador cars. In recent years, cars such as Chevrolet Tavera, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Omni, Mahindra Logan, Tata Indica, Toyota Innova and Tata Indigo have become fairly popular among taxi operators. The livery of the taxis in India varies from state-to-state. In Delhi and Maharashtra, most taxicabs have yellow-black livery while in West Bengal, taxis have yellow livery. Private taxi operators are not required to have a specific livery. However, they are required by law to be registered as commercial vehicles.

Depending on the city/state, taxis can either be hailed or hired from taxi-stands. In cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, taxis need to be hired over phone, whereas in cities like Kolkata and Mumbai, taxis can be hailed on the street. According to government of India regulations, all taxis are required to have a fare-meter installed. There are additional surcharges for luggage, late-night rides and toll taxes are to be paid by the passenger. Since 2006, radio taxis have become increasingly popular with the public due to reasons of safety and convenience.

In cities and localities where taxis are expensive or do not ply as per the government or municipal regulated fares, people use share taxis. These are normal taxis which carry one or more passengers travelling to destinations either en route to the final destination, or near the final destination. The passengers are charged according to the number of people with different destinations. A similar system exists for auto rickshaws, known as share autos.

The city of Mumbai will soon be the first city in India, to have an "in-taxi" magazine, titled MumBaee, which will be issued to taxis which are part of the Mumbai Taxi men’s Union. The magazine is set to debut on the 13 July, 2009.

4. Rail

The present suburban railway services in India are extremely limited and are operational only in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. The first rapid transit system in India, the Kolkata Suburban Railway, was established in Kolkata in 1854. First service ran between Howrah and Hooghly covering a distance of 38.6 km (24 miles). This is followed by Mumbai Suburban Railway which began services in Mumbai in 1867. It transports 63 lakh (6.3 million) passengers everyday and has the highest passenger density in the world. Apart from these, Kolkata has acicular rail line and Chennai has an elevated rail transit called MRTS. Kolkata was the first city in India to possess a subterranean rapid transport system, the Kolkata Metro, whose operations commenced in 1984. At present, three metro lines are operational in Delhi and more are under construction there. Rapid transit systems are also under construction in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmadabad and Mumbai.

Rapid transit systems have been proposed in Thane, Pune, Kanpur, Luckhnow, Amritsar and Kochi. Mumbai will soon be one of the two cities in India to have a monorail network, the Mumbai Monorail, which is presently under construction. There is also a monorail system being planned in Kolkata. The Konkan Railway Corporation had patented a suspended monorail system called the Skybus Metro in Margao, but this is yet to be implemented anywhere on a commercial scale following an accident in 2004. A two-track elevated corridor has been proposed above the existing Western Railway line between the stations of Church gate and Virar in Mumbai for air-conditioned EMUs.

5. Two – Wheelers

Motorized two-wheelers like scooters, small capacity motorcycles and mopeds are very popular as a mode of transport due to their fuel efficiency and ease of use in congested traffic. The number of two-wheelers sold is several times that of cars. There were 4.75 crore (47.5 million) powered two wheelers in India in 2003 compared with just 86 lakh (8.6 million) cars. Hero Honda, Honda, TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto are the largest two-wheeler companies in terms of market-share. Royal Enfield, an iconic brand name in the country, manufactures different variants of the Bullet motorcycle which is regarded as a classic motorcycle that is still in production.

Manufacture of scooters in India started when Automobile Products of India (API), set up at Mumbai and incorporated in 1949, began assembling Innocenti-built Lambretta scooters in India post independence. They eventually acquired license for the Li150 series model, of which they began full-fledged production from the early sixties onwards. In 1972, Scooters India Ltd (SIL), a state-run enterprise based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, bought the entire manufacturing rights of the last Innocenti Lambretta model. API has infrastructural facilities at Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Chennai but has been non-operational since 2002. SIL stopped producing scooters in 1998.

Motorcycles and scooters can be rented in many cities. Wearing protective headgear is mandatory for both the rider and the pillion-rider in most cities.

6. Automobiles

Private vehicles account for 30% of the total transport demand in urban areas of India. Averages of 963 new private vehicles are registered every day in Delhi alone. The number of automobiles produced in India rose from 63 lakh (6.3 million) in 2002-03 to 1.1 crore (11.2 million) in 2008-09. However, India still has a very low rate of car ownership. When comparing car ownership between BRIC developing countries, it is on a par with China, and exceeded by Brazil and Russia. Compact cars, especially hatchbacks predominate due to affordability, fuel efficiency, congestion, and lack of parking space in most cities. Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors are the most popular brands in the order of their market share. The Ambassador once had a monopoly but is now an icon of pre-liberalization India, and is still used by taxi companies. Maruti 800 launched in 1984 created the first revolution in the Indian auto sector because of its low pricing. It had the highest market share until 2004, when it was overtaken by other low cost models from Maruti such as the Alto and the Wagon R, the Indica from Tata Motors and the Santro from Hyundai. Over the 20 year period since its introduction, about 24 lakh (2.4 million) units of the Maruti 800 have been sold. However, with the launch of the Tata Nano, the least expensive production car in the world, this is under threat.

India is also known for a variety of indigenous vehicles made in villages out of simple motors and vehicle spare-parts. A few of these innovations are the Jugaad, Maruta, Chhakda, and the Fame.

In the city of Bengaluru, Radio One and the Bangalore Traffic Police, launched a carpooling drive which is has involved celebrities such as Robin Uthappa, and Rahul Dravid encouraging the public to carpool. The initiative got a good response, and by the end of May 2009, 10,000 people are said to have carpooled in the city.

7. Utility vehicles

The first utility vehicle in India was manufactured by Mahindra and Mahindra. It was a copy of the original Jeep and was manufactured under license. The vehicle was an instant hit and made Mahindra one of the top companies in India. The Indian Army and police extensively use Mahindra vehicles along with Maruti Gypsy for transporting personnel and equipment.

Tata Motors, the automobile manufacturing arm of the Tata Group, launched its first utility vehicle, the Tata Sumo, in 1994. The Sumo, owing to its then-modern design, captured a 31% share of the market within two years. The Tempo trax from Force Motors till recently was ruling the rural areas. Sports utility vehicles now form a sizeable part of the passenger vehicle market. Models from Tata, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet and other brands are available.

    B)  Long distance transport

1.  Railways

Rail services in India, first introduced in 1853, are provided by the state-run Indian Railways, under the supervision of the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways provides an important mode of transport in India, transporting over 18 million passengers and more than 2 million tonnes of freight daily across one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world. By 1947, the year of India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalized as one unit, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. Indian Railways is divided into sixteen zones, which are further sub-divided into sixty seven divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. The rail network traverses through the length and breadth of the country, covering 6,909 stations over a total route length of around 63,465 km (39,435 mi). It is the world's largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.4 million employees. As to rolling stock, IR owns over 200,000 (freight) wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities. It operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges, and is in the process of converting the entire metre gauge (14,406 km (8,951 mi)) into broad gauge in a project called Project Uni- gauge.

Kashmir Railway is the second highest in the world and the first phase was completed in 2009. Proposals have been made to introduce high-speed rail in India. A proposal has been made to build a Maglev track within the city of Mumbai, connecting it to the National Capital of New Delhi, as well as other parts of Maharashtra in the form of the Mumbai Maglev. Another proposal has been made to introduce a High-speed rail in India similar to that of the Shinkansen of Japan.

In 1999, the Konkan Railway Corporation introduced the Roll On Roll Off (RORO) service, a unique road-rail synergy system, on the section between Kolad in Maharashtra and Verna in Goa, which was extended up to Surathkal in Karnataka in 2004. The RORO service, the first of its kind in India, allowed trucks to be transported on flatbed trailers. It was highly popular, carrying about 1,10,000 trucks and bringing in about Rs.74 crore worth of earnings to the corporation till 2007.

2. Road

India has a network of National Highways connecting all the major cities and state capitals, forming the economic backbone of the country. As of 2005, India has a total of 66,590 km of National Highways, of which 200 km are classified as expressways. Under National Highways Development Project (NHDP), work is under progress to equip some of the important national highways with four lanes; also there is a plan to convert some stretches of these roads to six lanes. However congestion and bureaucratic delays enroute ensure that trucking goods from Gurgaon to the port in Mumbai can take up to 10 days.

As per the National Highways Authority of India, about 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads. The National Highways carry about 40% of total road traffic, though only about 2% of the road network is covered by these roads. Average growth of the number of vehicles has been around 10.16% per annum over recent years. Highways have facilitated development along the route and many towns have sprung up along major highways.

All national highways are metalled, but very few are constructed of concrete, the most notable being the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. In recent years construction has commenced on a nationwide system of multi-lane highways, including the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South and East-West Corridors which link the largest cities in India. In 2000, around 40% of villages in India lacked access to all-weather roads and remained isolated during the monsoon season. To improve rural connectivity, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Prime Minister's Rural Road Program), a project funded by the Central Government with the help of World Bank, was launched in 2000 to build all-weather roads to connect all habitations with a population of 500 or above (250 or above for hilly areas).

As per 1999 estimates, the total road length in India is 3,319,644 km (2,062,731 mi); out of which paved roads cover 1,517,077 km (942,668 mi) and unpaved roads cover 1,802,567 km (1,120,063 mi). The Indian road network of 3,300,000 km (2,050,000 mi) is second largest in the world and consists of.

Type of Road	Length
Expressways	200 km (120 mi)
National Highways	66,590 km (41,380 mi)
State Highways	131,899 km (81,958 mi)
Major District Roads	467,763 km (290,654 mi)
Rural and Other Roads	2,650,000 km (1,650,000 mi)
Total Length	3,300,000 km (2,050,000 mi) (Approx)

Buses are an important means of public transport in India, particularly in the countryside and remote areas where the rail network cannot be accessed and airline operations are few or non-existent. Due to this social significance, public bus transport is predominantly owned and operated by public agencies, and most state governments operate bus services through a State Road Transport Corporation. These corporations, introduced in the 1960s and 1970s, have proven extremely useful in connecting villages and towns across the country.

3. Water transport

Maritime transportation in India is managed by the Shipping Corporation of India, a government-owned company that also manages offshore and other marine transport infrastructure in the country. It owns and operates about 35% of Indian tonnage and operates in practically all areas of shipping business servicing both national and international trades. It has a fleet of 79 ships of 27 lakh GT (48 lakh DWT) and also manages 53 research, survey and support vessels of 1.2 Lakh GT (0.6 Lakh DWT) on behalf of various government departments and other organizations. Personnel are trained at the Maritime Training Institute in Mumbai, a branch of the World Maritime University, which was set up in 1987. The Corporation also operates in Malta and Iran through joint ventures.

India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length is 14,500 kilometers (9,000 mi), out of which about 5200 km of river and 485 km of canals can be used by mechanized crafts. Freight transport by waterways is highly underutilized in India compared to other large countries. The total cargo moved by inland waterways is just 0.15% of the total inland traffic in India, compared to the corresponding figures of 20% for Germany and 32% for Bangladesh. Cargo transport in an organized manner is confined to a few waterways in Goa, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration and regulation.

4. Aviation

But rapid economic growth in India has made air travel more affordable. Air India, India's flag carrier, presently operates a fleet of 147 aircraft and plays a major role in connecting India with the rest of the world. Several other foreign airlines connect Indian cities with other major cities across the globe.

Kingfisher Airlines, Air India and Jet Airways are the most popular brands in domestic air travel in order of their market share. These airlines connect more than 80 cities across India and also operate overseas routes after the liberalization of Indian aviation. However, a large section of country's air transport system remains untapped, even though the Mumbai-Delhi air corridor was ranked 6th by the Official Airline Guide in 2007 among the world's busiest routes.

India's vast unutilized air transport network has attracted several investments in the Indian air industry in the past few years. More than half a dozen low-cost carriers entered the Indian market in 2004-05. Major new entrants include Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, GoAir, Paramount Airways and IndiGo Airlines. To meet India's rapidly increasing demand for air travel, Air India recently placed orders for more than 68 jets from Boeing for 7.5 billion USD while Indian placed orders for 43 jets from Airbus for 2.5 billion USD. Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, has invested millions of dollars to increase its fleet, but this has been put on hold due to the recent economic slowdown. This trend is not restricted to traditional air carriers in India. IndiGo Airlines entered the limelight when it announced orders for 100 Airbus A320s worth 6 billion USD during the Paris Air Show; the highest by any Asian domestic carrier. Kingfisher Airlines became the first Indian air carrier in June 15, 2005 to order Airbus A380 aircraft. The total deal with Airbus was worth 3 billion USD.

Conclusion

The rapid growth of India’s urban population has put enormous strains on all transport systems. Rapidly increasing travel demand far exceeds the limited supply of transport infrastructure and services. Public transport, in particular, has been completely overwhelmed. Most bus and train services are overcrowded, undependable, slow, inconvenient, uncoordinated, and dangerous. Moreover, the public ownership and operation of most public transport services has greatly reduced productivity and inflated costs. India’s cities desperately need improved and expanded public transport service. Unfortunately, government’s financial assistance and the complete lack of any supportive policies, such as traffic priority for buses, places public transport in an almost impossible situation.

Indian cities cannot afford to cater only to private cars and two-wheelers and there has to be a general recognition that policy should be designed in such a way that it reduces the need to travel by personalized modes and boosts public transport system. This requires both an increase in quantity as well as quality of public transport and effective use of demand as well as supply-side management measures. At the same time, people should be encouraged to walk and cycle and government should support investments that make cycling and walking safer.

Passenger mobility in urban India relies heavily on its roads. Although rail-based transport services are available in a few megacities, they hardly play any role in meeting the transport demand in other million plus cities. Considering the financial health of various levels of governments (central, state, and local) and the investment required to improve the rail-based mass transport system, it is evident that bus transport will have to play a major role in providing passenger transport services in Indian cities in the future. It is amply clear that among the various modes of road based passenger transport, bus occupies less road space and causes less pollution per passenger-km than personalized modes