Delhi Needs More Than Odd-Even Road Space Rationing To Clear Its Air

When a journalist told architect Hafeez Contractor that tall structures were energy guzzlers, he retorted, “My office is in Churchgate, South Mumbai, and you came from Borivali, North Mumbai. The distance is about 34 km. How did you come here? Most probably, you have travelled by train and then also taken some other form of transport. Do those vehicles run on water? Just imagine if we had several tall structures in South Mumbai itself, you would be living somewhere around. It would have taken you a 10-minute walk to come to my office. That would have been the ideal city with lots of space to walk; even with an underground train that we could easily afford. We can even have high-level connections. So the city becomes in layers. And more importantly, you are not gobbling up the land on the periphery. So, tall structures are not guzzlers. This arrangement in the longer run is better and also cheaper.”

This is a conversation that we should remember when Delhi debates the odd-even policy that stipulates that vehicles with odd and even licence plate numbers must ply on the roads on alternate days.

Air pollution in Delhi is a life-and-death matter

The national capital Delhi's roads are extremely polluted and congested. It is hard to deny that something has to be done to clear Delhi's air and take vehicles out of roads on peak hours. This is being widely debated because the general public intellectuals and policy makers are now more aware that air pollution in Delhi is a life-and-death matter. When the government issues a dictate to restrict the number of cars on the road, people may fall in line for a while. It is possible that air quality will improve. But, soon, they may find ways to beat the system. This is because the way people travel within a city has much to do with how urban space is organised within a city. It is impossible to change the commute patterns within a city when the structure of the city, population density and commuting preferences remain unchanged. When the government tries to change the commute patterns, the unintended consequences may far outweigh the benefits.

What would happen if many people are not allowed to drive? As metro trains are crowded, they may resort to other forms of transport like auto rickshaws and taxis.

On January 1, for example, the first day the policy came into effect, many auto drivers charged people nearly twice the usual fare. While auto drivers could be blamed for this, but travel fares are determined by the supply and demand rule. When there is greater demand for the service of auto drivers and the supply is constant, over-charging is inevitable. If the drivers charge by the meter, more people will opt for this mode, making the queues longer. A scenario like this would punishes the less affluent residents of Delhi more. Also, if this policy is put in place permanently, the affluent residents will handle this by buying more cars.

How Delhi can do better

For a permanent solution to emerge, as Hafeez points out, the structure of the city should change. Though this may take a long time, this is entirely possible. Cities like Singapore have allowed population density to rise, while clearing its roads and air, and allowing people to live in more spacious houses. If South Delhi has many tall structures, for instance, far more people would walk from one tall structure to another. Far more people would travel in metro trains or buses, instead of driving through the streets on the car.

Mass-transit networks

While it has the 12th largest subway network in the world, Delhi would need a better mass-transit system to decongest its streets. (The Delhi metro was built in a very short period of time. This is enough proof that Indian cities are quite capable of building wide mass-transit networks.) And to encourage more people to use the mass-transit system, the world's second most populous city will have to provide a much larger network.

Using the money coming from taxes in real estate developments, the government can fund a much extensive mass transit network. Taller structures near metro stations, the property tax and other real estate taxes will be more than sufficient to fund metro lines. People will also be able to walk to metro stations, if residential towers are taller. This is because if a residential tower near a metro station will house more people than a two-floor house.                                                                                                                                                                                                       There are of course, other benefits from allowing taller structures. As the metro lines do not extent to all parts of the National Capital Region, the infrastructural investment that is required is much greater. When more people move to the periphery or suburbs, the government will have to invest more in building water mains, sewerage systems, transportation networks, etc. Energy consumption would also be lower because people travel less.

In the US, mass transit ridership is the highest New York, and energy consumption and carbon emission per person is unusually low. This is because more people walk to work than in other parts of the country. The point is that greater mass transit ridership and walk-to-work ratios did not happen because of a dictate enforced overnight. People decided to use mass transit, bicycle or walk to work because given the population density and transportation infrastructure in the city, it made less sense to drive their own cars. As Delhi is already densely populated, what needs to change are the infrastructure networks and building density.

Road-space rationing

Like every structure you see in a city, the roads are also valuable real estate. Those driving their own cars on a roads impose great costs on others, including the people who travel in buses or walk through the roads. Also, when we consume any form of real estate, we pay for it. When we visit a restaurant, rental costs are included in the bill. This is true when we buy a book, go to a movie theatre, etc. Even our salaries are greatly influenced by rents and the cost of parking spaces. This is why the road space rationing should find a place in the debate to decongest Delhi roads.

Singapore and some other countries have implemented congestion pricing successfully. The third densest country in the world, Singapore has been able to decongest its roads because of electronic congestion pricing. As income levels in Delhi are unusually high by Indian standards, the national capital benefit to a great extent by applying electronic congestion pricing on driving.