Public Transport

Waiting for the Bus Paying for Mobility in Our Cities

1. Why buses?
Buses will play a crucial role in the mobility transition in the big and medium rung cities. Cities need well managed, well organised modern buses that deliver efficient public transport services at affordable rates.
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Ponty, buses and PPPs

Liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother who were killed in a fratricide incident had another business not widely known. Ponty had recently acquired the concession to run public transport buses in Delhi. His company had won the bids for three clusters with a combined fleet of 600-odd vehicles. Now questions are being asked about who will run the business.

Smog has to be cleared

Losing after winning is the worst feeling possible. This is how I feel looking out of my window at a thick pall of black smog engulfing my city. It was this time of the year, exactly 15 years ago, when Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) began its right-to-clean-air campaign. The air in Delhi was so foul one could hardly breathe. That was a time when air pollution was an unknown curse. Not much was known about its nature and the toxicity of the air contaminants.

Temporary solution, permanent jam

I write this stuck in traffic. Nothing unusual. But my location makes me realise, once again, how our highway route to progress is going nowhere. The road I am using is newly commissioned and expensive. It is the 28-km Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, which was built just a few years ago to take care of the explosion of traffic between the two cities. It is access-controlled, with a 32-lane toll plaza, and was to provide easy access and a fun ride. The concessionaire—built as it is under the famous public private partnership model—took all steps to keep it prized for cars.

One third of Delhi walks to work, but are our roads designed for safe walking and cycling? Latest CSE survey findings say no

• Delhi has yet to wake up the mobility crisis. Increased use of cars is reducing people carrying capacity of roads.

• Total walk and cycle trips are more than double the share of car trips.

CSE conference on Clean and Sustainable Mobility for all: Agenda for Reforms

September 28-29, 2011, New Delhi

Parking that can’t be found

Khan Market in boulevard Delhi is said to be the most expensive real estate in India, maybe even in the world. But in this richest shopping destination, buyers do not want to pay for parking their vehicles.

CSE welcomes and supports finance minister's move to consider removing subsidy on diesel used in passenger cars

• Says this will check use of diesel in cars and cut toxic risk from diesel emissions. Will curb energy guzzling incited by cheap diesel and the shift towards bigger engines and SUVs
  

• Will help government cap revenue losses from luxury consumption of diesel

Is free parking our inalienable right?

'We want free parking…..' is the petulant tantrum of the rich in Delhi. Read this news…The trader association of one of the most happening, and upmarket area in Delhi – Khan Market has moved the High Court to oppose the orders of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority to charge for parking.

The forgotten tram

By Sayantan Bera