Urban Transport

♤ Indian roads are notorious for being pedestrian unfriendly, poorly surfaced, congested and constantly dug up. An important and urgent transformational reform is to draw up national design standards and contracting standards for city roads to address these challenges.

♤ The flow of traffic also needs to special attention in Indian cities. Unlike western cities, motorized vehicles in India change lanes with high frequency and in unpredictable ways. Niti Aayog recommends running pilot projects to see if strict enforcement of traffic rules through fines in case of violations can induce behavioral change and persuade drivers to the benefits of obeying all rules.

♤ Metro rails has proved to be an efficient source of public transportation in Indian cities. This highlights the need for a National Metro Rail Policy that will ensure that metro projects are not run is isolation, but under overall national transportation plan.