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Smart Urban Plans Must Solve Land, Traffic Woes

Long-term initiatives include a change in perspective thinking of citizens and governing bodies. It’s a well-documented fact that more allocations of scarce land for roads undo the benefits within a short span as it actualises the latent demand of private vehicles since their owners never internalise the externality created by their travel on others. Thus, India needs proper planning rather than higher allocation of land to road and transport. To combat congestion, we need a realistic solution for affordable, accessible, reliable and acceptable mobility (i.e. “AARAM”) urban commuting experience. In India’s urban scenario, modal transport system must be capable of having flexible high carrying capacity with low space requirement. The other aspect is to have public transit system which lures people away from private transport because traffic problem is expected to become severe with population growth and urbanisation putting more pressure on road infrastructure at substantial costs. Thus, policy makers need to explore alternatives like cost-effective Light Rail Transit in major cities as is being implemented in advanced nations.