Sustainable Urban Transport in India

Policy Vision

The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, is the key guiding policy at the national level focusing on urban transport in India (MoUD 2006). With the underlying rationale of people-based transport planning, the NUTP framework focuses on planning and investments in public transport and nonmotorized transport (NMT) systems in cities.

To meet the objectives of the NUTP, the findings from this study highlight the need for an overarching policy vision for the auto-rickshaw sector in urban transport (Figure E.1) based on the Shift and Improve strategies of the ASI framework to promote sustainable urban transport.

Reform Needs and Next Steps

In accordance with the policy vision, the following regulatory and vehicle-related reforms will help ensure that the auto-rickshaw sector supports public transport and provides alternatives to private vehicles, while addressing the sustainability challenges of emissions and road safety:

Ensure Availability of Dispatch Services: Auto-rickshaw services in the majority of Indian cities are provided by individual owner-operators rather than by fleet companies. The lack of organization makes it difficult to provide dispatch (dial-a-rickshaw) services. This needs to be addressed through regulatory reforms that enable fleet-based operations with dispatch services to enter the auto-rickshaw sector.

• These regulatory reforms should be pursued by State transport departments, which are the nodal regulatory agencies for the auto-rickshaw sector.

Reduce Emissions: Findings from this study highlight that improvements in engine technology (moving from two-stroke to four-stroke engines) is potentially the best approach to reduce PM10 emissions from the auto-rickshaw sector. Four-stroke engines have lower PM10, hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than two-stroke engines (Shah and Iyer 2004). Further, four-stroke engines can reduce PM10 emissions by running on compressed natural gas (CNG) and other alternatives to gasoline (Reynolds, Grieshop and Kandlikar, 2011). However, higher oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions from four-stroke engines need to be addressed through reforms in current emission standards.

• The engine and fuel-related reforms should be pursued by State transport departments as the nodal regulatory agencies.

• The needed reforms in emission standards are the adoption of separate emission standards for HC and NOx emissions, instead of the current combined (HC + NOx) standard. These reforms should be pursued by the Standing Committee on Implementation of Emissions Legislation set up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for emissions legislation (SIAM 2011b).

Improve Road Safety: Vehicle design improvements such as seat belts and padding on stiff surfaces (Schmucker et al. 2009) have been noted as key reform needs to improve occupant safety in multivehicle collisions. Further, infrastructure interventions such as dedicated lanes for auto-rickshaws, narrow lanes, and speed tables on urban roads to reduce average speeds will reduce the risk of occurrence of multivehicle collisions.

• Vehicle design improvements, through reforms in current motor vehicle safety regulations, should be pursued by the Automotive Industry Standards Committee (AISC) (SIAM 2011b) set up by MoRTH for motor vehicle safety regulations.

• Infrastructure interventions to improve autorickshaw occupant safety should be pursued by City governments as part of their citywide road safety enhancement strategies.