5 Cities That Have Their Public Transport Strategy Right

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on February that the second phase of odd-even road space rationing will be imposed on the city's roads from April on January 15 onward. This is done to decongest the national capital road and cut the carbon footprint of the city. As Delhi puts in place rules to achieve this, it can learn more from cities across the world that have their transportation strategy right.

New York

New York's subway system is 373- km long and became operational in 1904. Nearly 5.5 million people travel daily by the New York's subway system as of 2013. Nearly one-third of the public transport users in the US live in New York's five boroughs. Even though close to 90 per cent of the people in the US drive to work, less than a third of the people in New York do. New York's mass transit is not known to be pleasant to commuters but it still works and makes life easier in one of the world's densest cities, where driving is difficult. Even though New York is an unusually affluent city, energy usage in New York is among the lowest in the US. New York's subway system is one of the oldest metro systems in the world. The street plan of Manhattan was designed in the Commissioner's plan of 1811 allowed retail and commercial growth along it, raising real estate prices and accommodating the rapidly growing population of the city. Even when modern-day buses and cars were running through the roads, with all its flaws, the street plan was enough to allow the city to grow.

Hong Kong

Like in New York and similarly dense prosperous cities, public transport usage is higher in Hong Kong. By owning and maintaining the transit system, the Mass Transit Railway in Hong Kong avoids many potential conflicts. It owns some of the tallest skyscrapers in the city, and malls and residential developments. Such ownership allows Hong Kong to integrate mass transit and land use policies, allowing greater walkability and dense development along metro corridors. Its real estate assets are a major source of revenues of the Hong Kong Metro. Real estate ownership allows Hong Kong Metro to recover the costs without borrowing. In fact, fare box recovery ratio, at 185 per cent in 2012, is the highest in the world.

Tokyo

Japan capital Tokyo is, like Hong Kong, another city that allows height and an efficient mass transport system that allows large number of people to live on small tracts of land. Even though the metro system is not privately owned, this is the closest approximation to it in the megacities of the world. Even though Tokyo is a vastly populated city, efficient transportation networks and high-density building has allowed people to live in better houses. Many residents of Tokyo who have driving licenses do not drive because mass transit systems work so well. The network of buses and taxis in Tokyo are good, too. Unlike in Hong Kong and Singapore, it is competition among private players that make mass transit in Tokyo work quiet, punctual and clean. It also illustrates the argument that mass transit systems do not have to be publicly owned to meet the needs of people in dense cities.

Singapore

Singapore is one of the few countries on earth where electronic congestion pricing is in effect. Even though this is not without its flaws, congestion pricing keeps streets largely uncongested. The uncongested roads of Singapore are proof enough that streets of Delhi and Mumbai can be uncongested, too, with better management. Public transport ownership in Singapore is also high because it is a dense city where mass transit extends to all parts of the city. By world standards, mass transport in Singapore is also cheap. There are fleets of buses and taxis, too, in Singapore, and these play an important role in meeting the commuting needs of its people.

London

London is a city, which unlike comparable cities like New York, was able to implement congestion pricing. When London implemented congestion pricing in 2003, uncongested streets paved the way for faster commutes. The change was quicker than it was expected. In the first two weeks, congestion declined by 20 per cent, in two years, it went down by 30 per cent. The decline in the short run was greater, probably because people were not used to paying for driving before, and did not respond well to change. Despite an opposition, authorities went ahead and results were impressive. Fares in mass transit systems in London are progressively rising, and the measures to improve the transit networks are cost effective. The successful mass transit system in London are evidence that congestion pricing is not enough to solve the commuting problems in a city.