sustainable transport

Recently, Chennai decided to privatise operations and maintenance of MTC buses under the gross cost contract model. One major plus point of public transport is that the system must function even if there is only one passenger. The danger of private services skipping a stop or a route because of poor financial viability is high. How can this be resolved?

#Chennai plans to embark on a journey to privatise city buses. Several other cities in #India have already experimented with #privatisation with varying levels of success. Do you think this gross contract model will work for Chennai?

#PublicTransport #RethinkMobility

In March 2023, #MTC announced that private players would be brought in to handle bus operations & that MTC would be buying 500 buses this year. While the extra buses will certainly make a difference to a struggling fleet, this move also needs a nuanced debate as to how the specifics of this partnership will be laid out and how it is likely to impact the public. Follow this series for more information on this. 

#Chennai #Accessibility #PrivateTransport #PublicTransport #SustainableMobility 

India has seen sundry changes in its 75 years of independence. The country and her many states have experienced economic growth at an unprecedented rate, as small towns turned into large, vibrant, and bustling cities. Tamil Nadu is no exception to this pattern, being the country's most industrialized and urbanized large state, boasting many accolades to its name. But most Indian states, Tamil Nadu included, have not been proactive with the handling of their road infrastructure.

Our roads have been planned and built to cater to motorists, particularly private vehicles. Space and consideration for low carbon modes of commute (walking, cycling, and public transport) is not a priority. This is in spite of the fact that these are sustainable modes of transport - causing minimal pollution, taking little space, being affordable and accessible by all. 

This year's #UnionBudget's focus under energy transition is on incentivising domestic #EV battery production & scrapping of old polluting vehicles. These are great except that we are still woefully dependent on #electricity from #fossilfuels. As a consequence, any EV also runs on fossil fuels. These "green growth" moves therefore might not be so green after all. Promoting #SustainableTransport (public transport, walking, cycling) would go a long way in reducing our use of fossil fuels and effecting a true #EnergyTransition.