‘Mobility is not just about travel, it’s about livability’
Dutch transport expert shoots docu on Mumbai’s mobility, says metro must align with buses and a shared bike system
MUMBAI: Not many in Mumbai would equate urban mobility with “livability”. And yet this thought-provoking perspective comes from a 49-year-old Dutchman, an expert on urban mobility in cities around the world.
Geert Kloppenburg, who also shoots documentaries on the subject, was on a ten-day visit to Mumbai recently, when he recorded 60 hours of video footage on how Mumbai moves. He was here to meet cycle blogger, Vijay Malhotra, who had travelled to Kloppenburg’s home city, Haarlem in the Netherlands, to create a documentary on the cycling capital of the world.
Kloppenburg has worked with governments, municipalities and mobility companies in the Netherlands as well as internationally, including in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Istanbul. Coming from a country whose public transport system is hailed globally, he was struck by just how exhausting commuting is in Mumbai. In a free-wheeling interview to Hindustan Times, he also offered his view on possible solutions.
You spent ten days exploring Mumbai through various modes of transportation. What is your verdict on mobility in Mumbai?
I’ve taken a cycle on the train; cycled on the Coastal Road promenade; observed a neighbourhood outside a school, a park and a community hall; watched bus, rickshaw and human traffic at peak times; seen the attempt at order outside Bandra station and the chaos and disaster outside Malad station.
All this has shown me that change is taking place, even if it is not consistent everywhere. What struck me, though, following the daily journey of a woman living in Aarey for one of the documentaries, is her declaration that the system exhausts her. It sums up the effect of the transport system on people, what it does to people, and why it matters.
Your vision of urban mobility is very holistic, and it is not restricted to transport systems.
Mobility is not just about travel; it is about livability. When thinking about mobility, we need to plan for heat stress; flood resilience; noise levels; road safety, particularly for children, women, the disabled and the elderly; space for playing and socialising; and so much more. Everyone wants all the factors that improve the quality of life. For instance, changing the design of streets to include wider footpaths, more trees, fewer parking spots, fewer car lanes in residential areas, adding open public spaces. This is a sure-fire and cheap way to change life.
Last month, Mumbai got its newest metro line that runs parallel to the local train line. It’s a huge step in the city’s public transport network. What do you think of it?
Metros are helpful, and in a city like Mumbai where people fall off the local trains far too often, it is around 20 years late. But metros must be seen in context with the rest of the system – there must be a feeder network equipped to support its use. The metro poses a huge opportunity for buses and a shared bike system, especially as public transport use is in such high numbers here. If you’re spending millions on a metro line, get an additional 20,000 shared bikes for the millions of people at every metro station.
Mumbai’s infrastructure upgradation is focused on high-speed road corridors, like the Coastal Road. What is your perspective on these priorities?
All cities want ring roads, and ring roads, and ring roads. But, time and time again, experts everywhere say you don’t need them. Ring roads are great in attracting double the vehicles into the city and they cause bottlenecks. You’ve got the Coastal Road, but if your ambulances and fire brigade is stuck in traffic, what help is it?
What other issues have you found with mobility in Mumbai?
There is an aspect of mobility that is becoming an astronomical problem in cities around the world: that of logistics. There is an influx of delivery vehicles and bikes because of the boom in online ordering and deliveries. The problem is getting out of hand. It is one of the things I’ve looked at in one of the documentaries. In this context, the dabbawalas of Mumbai add an interesting insight: they own the product, and that it is clean, efficient and uses public transport.
What’s the way forward to solve Mumbai’s many mobility issues, and what should be the first step?
Where does one start! There must be an effort of change on all fronts. The solution lies in both, better road design and public transport. Mumbai is a small peninsula with a population of 20 million, and so it needs to scale up its infrastructure to its population load. The number of buses has been dwindling, which needs to be reversed by a stock of a good 2,000 buses and a dedicated bus lane across the east-west corridor, which can also be used for ambulances, fire brigades and shared rickshaws. And, as always, in any space, but especially like the one outside Malad station, priority needs to be given to walking, the disabled, ambulances and the fire brigade. The rest, the bikes, rickshaws and vehicles, can come after.
