Transport
Systems -Prologue
Transport
is the heart of all developmental activities and is essential to
economic development and social welfare. An
efficient, reliable, affordable and safe transport system is vital
for fostering rapid economic growth and it has to be Resource
efficient & Eco-friendly, if it has to be sustainable.
Traditionally
the goods are moved by Rail or Road or Inland Water transport. The
age of Canals in the 19th
century was followed by Railway Era, which in turn was overtaken by
Road Transport, as the dominant mode of transport, in the latter half
of 20th
century. The most recent transport infrastructure development is Air
Transportation.
The
income and mobility have always progressed together and the mobility
increases with income. But mobility tends to increase faster than
income in the developing economies, mainly because of movements of
population from rural to urban areas and of increasing movement of
goods. The capacities have always been lagging behind demand,
resulting in present sad state of urban environment.
Indian
Scenario
Over
the decades, in spite of significant development of transport modes,
transport capacity has tended to lag behind the requirement of
economy, leading to congestion, asset deterioration and high level of
energy consumption, pollution and accidents.
There is a continuous increase in the share of Road traffic at the
expense of Rail. Though successive Five Year Plans took cognizance of
these problems, there is inadequate investment in capacity building,
mainly because of resource problem facing the public sector that has
been largely responsible for transport infrastructure development.
In
spite of special attention being paid, particularly in the recent
years, for development of transport infrastructure, some areas like
North-East continue to be inadequately served and this has affected
not only their economic development but even social & political
integration with the rest of the country.
The
new economic policies have opened new avenues for private
participation in transport sector, thus augmenting resources as also
increasing the scope of commercial orientation to transport
operations. But, Road Transport network got the lions share at the
cost of Rail & Inland Waterways / Coastal Shipping networks,
which continue to remain in the domain of Public sector.
Road
Transportation in India
In
a fuel scarce economy in India, heavily depending on import of
petroleum products, around 30 % of total energy consumed is estimated
to be utilized on transport. A part of this consumption is
attributable to inappropriate choice of the mode of transport, bad
roads and the obsolete / fuel inefficient technologies used in
vehicles.
Sri.
B.K Chaturvedi, Member Planning Commission, while inaugurating a
regional conference on On Road Safety Strategy organized by
International Road Safety in October 2011, is reported to have said
that Road Accident Deaths and Injuries cost India at least Rs One
Lakh Crore per year. According to a note jointly prepared by the
Health and the Highways Ministries, an estimated 1.6 lakh people were
killed in road accidents in 2010.
Road
safety experts feel that the number of road accidents and deaths
reported are less than the actual figures, due to lack of scientific
data collection. Road accidents are serious issues, but little
attention is being paid to this. While annually the nation loses
almost 1.5% of its GDP on account of road accidents, not even 10% of
that amount is being spent to make the roads safe.
While
Government is trying to push the construction of National Highways
from 20 Km to 50 Km every day, there does not seem to be enough focus
on making Roads Safe. While designing or building Highways, enough
care does not seem to be taken to ensure that there are adequate
facilities for pedestrian and for local population, while Highways
pass through smaller towns and Rural areas.
According
to study conducted by Center for Media Studies across a dozen major
transport hubs covering over 1,200 truck drivers, it is estimated
that total Bribe amount close to Rs.22,000 crore is being collected
on roads every year, by the Police and officials of other Enforcing
agencies
Rail
Vs Road Transportation
The
personalized transport is estimated to consume about 20 times the
energy required by public transport buses, per passenger kilometer.
The rail systems which are the most powerful and energy efficient
systems, having the highest hourly passenger carrying capacity,
require much less energy than the buses. Similarly transporting a
tonne of freight by road requires several times the energy required
to transport the same tonne of freight by rail or inland water
transport.
The
Western Europe, China, India and Japan account for substantial share
of passenger transportation by Rail. In contrast the passenger travel
in USA by rail accounts for infinitesimal share of total passenger
travel. Even though Rail passenger transport is generally considered
to be much more energy efficient, than Road/ Air passenger transport,
the Rail’s share of passenger transport is falling steadily all
over the world. Similarly the share of freight hauled by Rail and
Inland Water transport/Coastal Shipping, relatively energy efficient
modes, is sharply declining.
India,
with 4 times the Population and one fourth the geographical Area of
USA, cannot afford to follow the model of USA, by opting for energy
intensive Road Transport network and short haul Air Transport
Network, while trying to bring down carbon emissions.
Highways
Development at the Cost of Railways
In
India, Road Transport has grown at the cost of the Railways. The road
ways which carried 11% of freight and 26% of passenger traffic in
1951, handled 34% of freight and 60% passenger traffic in 1971. In
the more recent years, the share of road is estimated to have gone up
further. The manner in which the distortion has reached, can be
gauged by the fact that bulk cargoes are moved by Roads over long
distances, even though it is more economical to carry them by rail.
The four-laning of “Golden Quadrangle”, with an overall
investment of Rs.20,000 crore, at the rate of Rs. 4 crore per km, has
distorted further, to the disadvantage of Rail Transportation.
Road
Transport & Climate Change
The
most crucial issue that transportation planners face, is how to
economize on transport costs. The Energy & Environment costs
should be the over riding consideration, while determining an optimal
mix of the country’s transport system, with substantial energy
savings and consequent reduction in carbon emissions and other
pollutants. Road transport is the dominant source of emissions that
contribute to urban air pollution. The rail transport is relatively
environmentally benign, although it contributes to noise.
A
well integrated, multi-modal system relying increasingly on emerging
technologies, will be an essential element of sustainable transport
scenario in the present millennium. Road transport should take care
of bulk cargo over short hauls and in areas not covered by rail. The
highest priority should be given for the development of rural roads
and district roads, connecting to rail-head and other main roads,
instead of giving priority only to the National Highways / Express
Ways.
Demand
Suppression Approach Needed
Too
much emphasis on converting National/State Highways into Expressways
and building Flyovers, Outer Ring Roads, widening of urban roads etc
which is Supply oriented, will only add more and more vehicles on
roads, further increasing fuel consumption and adding to air
pollution & carbon emissions.
What
we need is the Avoidance-Oriented or Demand-Suppression approach, so
as to bring down the number vehicles on roads and to cut down fuel
consumption and consequential pollution & emissions. The
suppression of demand for Motor Vehicles will be strongly opposed by
powerful Automobile Industry Lobby and the Policy Makers, as it may
have short term adverse impact on GDP growth rate. The introduction
of Euro-6 Norms for Diesel vehicles, will be nothing but window
dressing, as Diesel vehicles are known to be the worst polluters.
If
there is a political will, the suppression of demand for Automobiles,
can be achieved by developing and encouraging energy efficient modes
like Railways, Coastal Shipping, Inland Water-Transport, Multi-Mode
Transport systems, and Product Pipelines for long distance movement
of bulk commodities and Metro Rail Systems for urban public
transportation.
Conclusion
As
Automobile intensive Transport
system is one of the major producers of green-house gases emission,
It is necessary to encourage the modes of transport mix and
technologies, which consumes less energy per unit of throughput and
generate lower level of emissions.
“Our
present way of life is harmful to the Environment, harmful to the
population of third world, harmful to poor people in our own country
and very very harmful to the future”
“Our
Technological Society exhibits at one and the same time Breathless
Intelligence and Abysmal lack of Wisdom. That we can produce Trident
Submarines shows how smart we are: that we do in fact produce them,
shows how completely idiotic we are“
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