Smart cities to move people not cars, through efficient public transport , says M.Venkaiah Naidu

Inaugurating the ‘Urban Mobility India Conference’ here, Naidu expressed concern over lack of equity in the use of public spaces like roads in urban areas of the country, with car owning class using them more at the expense of common man.

The Minister said :”Mobility in urban areas is the key determinant of quality of urban life. For many, life in urban areas is a nightmare. People move out of homes, mostly to make a living and this is turning out to be harrowing experience”.

Naidu elaborated that the objective of developing smart cities is not to encourage use of private cars but to see that even car owners take to public transport. Atal Mission seeks to promote non-motorised transport like walking and cycling to work.

Stating that lack of first and last mile connectivity is affecting use of public transport, Naidu said that New Delhi Municipal Council has been asked to conduct a study for providing such connectivity to metro services in NDMC area.

Naidu noted that infrastructure deficit in urban areas of the country is due to lack of adequate advance planning for future as the country is more used to plan for meeting shortages of yesterday. ‘’Smart City Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) have been launched by the Prime Minister to reverse this trend so that cities can begin to prepare for future” he asserted.

Expressing concern over rising motor vehicle population and its consequences like congestion lowering GDP by about 3.50%, rising accidents and air pollution, Naidu suggested proper integration of land use and transport planning, traffic demand management by increasing the cost of using private vehicles, promotion of efficient public transport and environment protection.

To address these issues, Naidu suggested policy interventions like imposing deterrent congestion charges, tax measures to restrain owning and using personal vehicles, promoting vertical construction for dense living, effective parking policies etc.

The four day Urban Mobility India Conference being jointly organized by the Ministry of Urban Development and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) seeks to bring Mayors, Municipal Commissioners, state government officials, experts from India and abroad and technology and service providers to discuss mobility related issues and acquaint with best practices.

Over 1,200 delegates including 70 international delegates and 24 exhibitors are attending the conference. An exhibition of various urban mobility related technologies was also inaugurated by Naidu.