NEED OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR INDIAN CITIES
Abstract
Defining Sustainability
The root of sustainability lies in the growing awareness about activities done by humans that result in depletion of natural capital at a rate faster than the rate of replenishment by nature itself. While no universal definition of sustainability exists, the concept of ‘intergenerational equity’ (Todd Litman & David Burwell, 2006) meaning ‘being fair to the future generations’ best defines it. On the broad level, the issues in sustainability can be defined as Economic, Social & Environmental (shown below pictorially): Introduction
With growing urbanisation, India too is moving towards the cities with more and more complex transportation requirements. Today, nearly 30 percent of India’s population of over 1 billion lives in cities (B.I Singhal Report, November 2010) and India has more than 50 cities with a population of more than a million each. This has led to an unfortunate paradox, wherein upward movement in incomes is resulting in deteriorating outcomes for one of the most important economic activities of the country, Transportation. With rapid urbanisation taking place, the concerns are arising not only for the pollution levels, but also for slums and illegal settlements, congestion, safety, rampant diseases and poor level of transportation services. These conditions are more prevalent in the metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
Further, the impact of