Straphangers United

We found this video of New York City immensely interesting, echoing the kind of thing that we would like to do here in Chennai. As one of the pedestrians in the film says, when you stop the cars, you really see how you can enjoy the city. Cheers to Street Films for this production.

Straphangers United participated in the well-attended Chennai Walk-a-Thon organised by Walking Classes Unite on September 21, and lent fraternal support to the citizen body’s demand to reclaim space for walkers.

The walk drew people from various walks of life, such as office-goers, construction workers, retirees, spastic children, their parents, academicians and journalists. The overwhelming message from the walkers, who wore sky-blue headbands and held placards aloft, was that politicians, bureaucrats and the police can no longer ignore the demand for equitable walking space as a matter of right. 

BBC News gave a curtain raiser for the event, indicating the seriousness of the problem and the failure of the Chennai administration. The major newspapers The Hindu , the Times of India and News Today reported on the walk with photos, and we made this one minute video to give a glimpse of the spirit of the event. 

On behalf of Straphangers United, the author of this post spoke to Venkat, organiser of the walk-a-thon expressing wholehearted support for the egalitarian agenda. The area chosen for the walk from the Labour Statue on the Marina to the Foreshore Estate Housing Complex is among the relatively better pedestrian spaces available in Chennai today. It is our view that such walks should be organised in the worst locales, to highlight the plight of the pedestrians.

Also, walking events could be held every month to encompass the bus termini of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation which are hazardous and unapproachable in the absence of clear pathways, the stations of the suburban railway and MRTS, and important institutions. This would be only a symbolic gesture, as all roads should ultimately become sane and civilised enough. 

But the Government pretends not to understand...

If you are interested in pursuing this agenda for Chennai, Walking Classes Unite has offered to run a series of programmes in your neighbourhood.

These include:

• organising a road audit or an area audit
• conducting outreach or public awareness programmes in schools, colleges, resident welfare associations and so on
• organising a photo exhibition on the state of the pedestrian with photos supplied by WCU
• launching collective efforts to end violations of public spaces in the city

Contact WCU at ped.access@gmail.com; the blog run by WCU is at http://pedaccess.wordpress.com

We urge WCU to publish its audits done so far on select roads on its blog for the benefit of the public at large. Although media has covered some of the audits, the reports are sketchy at best. We need detailed information on how many obstacles — power transformers, junction boxes, lamp posts, display boards by Police and other agencies and so on — are encountered. 

The literature distributed by WCU at the walk-a-thon was commendably focused on rights of marginalised road users — pedestrians, bicyclists and riders on public transport. The point was also made, which we have highlighted as well all along, that millions are spent on flyovers and road widening, but hardly any funds have been devoted to facilities for people. 

By prioritising huge encroaching commercial structures over livelihood concerns of vendors, the Chennai Corporation, CMDA and the Police have ensured that neither vendors nor pedestrians can use the footpaths. Only corrupt officials appear to be the beneficiaries in the bargain. Integration of walking and hawking spaces is the need of the hour, in a mutually beneficial design.

Chennai's modernisation by the AIADMK and DMK has left pedestrians wtih ribbons for footpaths

WCU could make a difference here by publishing on its blog, the full report of the Justice Kanagaraj Committee on street vending. 

Lastly, Straphangers United welcomes the editorial “Navigating the City Streets” in the New Indian Express today, describing the insane character of cities and towns in the country today, and the marginalisation of the pedestrian. We would like to add that the majority of road users have been affected not by the lack of development, but by the lopsided development resulting from neo-liberal economic policies — starting with unprecedented rise in automobile numbers.

We hope such strong criticism brings about the realisation in the Urban Development Ministry and the State Governments, not to speak of civic agencies, to turn a new leaf.

The invitation post from WCU for the September 21 walk is here.

As one of the States with rusty transport policies Tamil Nadu has been making slow progress with the Chennai metro plan. Other cities are faring even worse, as the DMK Government has no demonstrable plan or even vision on transport modernisation.

Today, The Hindu reports that acquisition process to build stations for the Chennai Metro have been started. As is the wont of the administration, this has not been publicised sufficiently. Early indications available from the report point to legal challenges, which are bound to be exacerbated by any attempt to influence the process for corrupt gains by officials.

It is also revealed that the Chennai Metro Rail valuers are yet to be appointed, again demonstrating the tardy progress and low priority given by the DMK regime. Surprisingly, there is no attempt to even have a “foundation stone laying” ceremony with the names of all the top leaders inscribed on it. The problem is that if the Government is unable to get working on the Metro soon enough, we may end up with a new transport plan under a new government. Past experience indicates that the AIADMK cares even less about public transport, and we may be left with a long and painful period ahead marked by perpetual urban chaos.

College Road, Nungambakkam: The narrow footpath suddenly terminates in a power transformer structure, creating an inviting 'corner' public toilet for some

This morning’s papers carry prominent reports about an initiative by Walking Classes Unite (WCU) to report on the state of Chennai when it comes to pedestrian access. This is no doubt a fine initiative that will hopefully achieve traction and persuade our political masters that collective action by the biggest class of road users is finally a reality.

The report in The Hindu on the pedestrian audit done by WCU is here, but the Times of India does not have today’s story online. A related story in the Times is here.

The Hindu report does mention that WCU has spoken of the needs of public transport users along with pedestrians and cyclists. We welcome this emphasis and would like to point out that pedestrianisation is an integral component of public transport use, as many discussions have highlighted. It is therefore imperative to strengthen both, to make a quantum leap from a rights perspective.

In fact, we would like to take the discussion one step further by pointing out that pedestrians, cyclists and riders on public transport are participants in a multi-disciplinary endeavour that spans such concerns as public health, pollution mitigation and climate change.

As we have pointed out many times in the past, there is documented, researched and published evidence on the link between walking to public transport (or transit, as they say in America) and good health. Ironically, in general, all walking except in a limited, faddish, cosmetic sense, and use of public transport are looked down upon by our political class, and even by many sections of our middle classes.

Car ownership, sedentary lifestyles and junk food have for a long time now been implicated in health crises in the West, particularly in the United States. It is condemnable, that our politicians, bureaucrats, police officers and influential industrialists are pushing that vision for the middle classes today as a marker for success.

It is therefore imperative that our activists understand the sinister underpinnings of public policy today, that privileges the automobile culture over pedestrian, health-oriented and open air lifestyles.

We are glad that WCU has taken the initiative to organise the pedestrians into a rallying group that will go on a walk along the Marina from Labour Statue to Foreshore Estate on Sunday, September 21, to underscore the inalienable rights of pedestrians. It would be pointless to get politicians to participate in such an exercise, although mass participation in the event will send out the message that pedestrians are now rolling up their sleeves for the big fight, and the first of the blows that they will deliver will be in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

It would therefore be good to put out the demand that all road projects in Chennai must compulsorily have a pedestrian component, consisting of demarcated, encroachment-free footpaths, where only compatible activity such as regulated hawking is possible. Ill-planned public facilities including transformers, power junction boxes, traffic sign posts and so on have no place here.

Equally important, the political agenda should include a consistent pursuit of subways as integral part of any overbridge projects. We need pedestrian access that is “always open” in the form of accessible subways that are as good for able-bodies as for those with disabilities.

The challenge is really to participate in the Walk-a-Thon on Sunday and send out the message. Here is the post from WCU on the event.

We welcome the spotlighting of the plight of pedestrians in today’s Chennai edition of the Times of India, which follows similar features done by The Hindu earlier.

It has long been our position that beautification of footpaths cannot be done at the cost of pedestrian rights, although even some citizen sector organisations take recourse to such cosmetic changes in a bid to satisfy the middle class penchant for superficial cleanliness. To be fair, it seems to have some resonance with the political class also, as the previous AIADMK regime in its last days in 2005 also spoke of citywide beautification plans. 

The Chennai Corporation renders footpaths unfit for use by dumping filth on it. This scene is on Kodambakkam Station Road.

However, the real problem lies not so much in the attitude of the more affluent residents, as in the complete disengagement of the Chennai Corporation from the issue. It is common knowledge that the street level staff of the civic body allow encroachment of public space in return for filthy lucre. Invariably, this does not help Thus we find horrors such as T.Nagar’s Ranganathan Street where wealthy shopkeepers have taken over the footpath space. 

Today’s Times article highlights the danger of allowing beautification to become a mainstream pursuit, at the cost of more sustainable uses of the footpath. We hope the civic body and the Police will wake up quickly to the need for safe footpaths to create a safe and sane city. 

And we would urge citizen sector organisations to press for a balanced view of beauty by adopting the well-researched consensus on sharing public space equitably — among walkers, cyclists, regulated hawkers and other stakeholders, in that order of priority.

Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation, the monopoly bus operator, routinely overloads its buses. It obviously has little regard for the effect of this practice on the life of its vehicles – which are not buses with proper design, but crude bus bodies on lorry chassis.  One offshoot of the overloading is that conductors do not move around and issue tickets in the buses, which is the norm in this part of the world. They sit near one entrance of the bus and expect all passengers to squeeze their way through the crush, or pass on the fare through other passengers.

Often, the moving bus approaches a fare stage in this kind of situation, without giving all passengers an opportunity to buy the ticket. These passengers are then pounced upon by “checking inspectors” who levy a fine of upto Rs. 500.

On Tuesday evening, one could see such a plight befalling a few passengers. Two girls were seriously embarrassed as the checking inspectors emptied their bags asking them to part with whatever cash they had. One of the girls started weeping. It was plainly evident that there was no intention to defraud the transport company on their part. 

Such scenes make us wonder why the Tamil Nadu Government, which wants no change in the bus operation system for Chennai, to modernise the functioning of MTC. For one thing, it needs to provide more choice for travel. This could be done, as we have pointed out in the past, by selling a variety of travel cards or passes. Secondly, there is absolutely no justification in expecting passengers to buy tickets on board, when buses have been overloaded well beyond the limit prescribed by the transport permit for the bus. This situation can be remedied only by operating more buses, of different kinds of comfort levels, and with affordable fares.

An MTC checking crew negotiating a fine with some people who have just got off a bus. A high priced deluxe service is seen in the background

We emphasise at this point the need for the DMK Government, and the UPA Government’s Urban Development Ministry which is funding some of the expansion plans for Chennai transport, to modernise Chennai’s transport network in both infrastructure and operational practices.

There is no justification for Mr. Karunanidhi’s Government to fine passengers when it has not fulfilled its own obligations. In fact, the Government should be taken to court for allowing the MTC to overload its buses, which is a violation of the Motor Vehicles Act. 

In fact, the DMK Government has consistently turned a deaf ear to letters written by the Union Ministry for Urban Development asking all States to set up separate authority for integrated transport. Tamil Nadu has resisted attempts to even functionally integrate bus and train services, trotting out excuses about lack of response from the Southern Railway. 

It is condemnable that the DMK Government is recalcitrant even in the face of extraordinary levels of demand for travel in a growing economy, with the narrow view of satisfying its unionised class of transport workers, making a mockery of the principle of public transport.

Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has announced cosmetic changes to its operations, when so much more was expected from it to improve the efficiency and reliability of its monopoly bus service. 

The comments made by managing director Ramasubramaniam bring home the reality that the corporation is cynical and cold towards passenger demands. It did not help that the meek media participation in the press conference failed to draw out the official into discussing the pressing problems of travellers.

The Hindu reports that MTC is to try out announcements on some of its services, telling passengers about stops in advance. This is a useful service, but means little in the absence of a facility to request for a stop at the passenger end. This standard feature used to exist in the past, when the same MTC used to operate only ordinary buses. A small bell could be tapped at the front and rear, near the door, to alert the conductor. The bells have disappeared in recent years, simultaneously with indifference and arrogance on display from the bus crew towards legitimate passenger demands (drivers skip stops often, and conductors bully and abuse passengers) in all buses. Now, with deluxe services in operation, passengers are paying more to be bullied and taunted.

But even more fundamental is the need for the MTC to introduce more services, together with a campaign to popularise the daily, weekly and monthly travel passes (travel cards). At present, the MTC does not issue these passes widely, and restricts them to a few depots, that too during the first half of the month, and again, during specified hours of the day. All this constitutes a major disincentive for passengers to use the bus system. It also does not help reduce congestion on the roads, which is growing worse by the day.

Considering that the Metro rail plan for Chennai is making very slow progress, one would expect the Tamil Nadu Government to augment the bus service, particularly within the core area of the city.

We demand that the Manmohan Singh Government refuse all assistance to the MTC under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) until the State, and its monopoly, the MTC, come forward to remove the bottlenecks and anti-passenger functioning of the bus network.

We also regret that the UPA government has done little to augment the MRTS service in Chennai, although its popularity and the demand for more services is no longer in doubt.

We are happy to endorse wholeheartedly the pro-pedestrian and pro-cyclist views expressed by Professor Dinesh Mohan of the IIT Delhi on the programme Uncommon Ground on NDTV 24X7 on Sunday night. As Prof. Mohan told industrialist Rahul Bajaj and moderator, Rohini Nilekani, there is urgent need to strengthen the right of this large segment of the population.

In particular, Governments and advocates of unbridled car-ownership must take note of the fact highlighted on the programme: that 40 per cent of the population of the country is below 18, and hence ineligible to drive, even if they otherwise have access to a vehicle. Similar, 10 per cent of the population is above 70 and hence not eligible to drive. Also, the basic and elegant economics that a bus ride cannot cost more per kilometre than what it costs to travel one km by a motorised two-wheeler (currently about 70 paise a kilometre).

Looking at the present situation, we come to the distressing conclusion that policy makers and neo-liberal industrial advocacies (ironically including the Indian Left parties, starting with the CPI-M) are neglecting the rights of half the population to use roads and to have safe, reliable, inexpensive and healthy forms of mobility, of which walking, cycling and public transport are the best examples. They are instead pushing an incompatible vision of motorisation. To that list we must add the disabled and women, who are also invariably car-deprived and hence without any rights.

While we welcome the strong advocacy of the rights of walkers and users of public transport we take this opportunity to condemn the attitude of the Tamil Nadu government of building more and more bridges that are hostile to the rights of the average road user. We are equally vociferous in deploring the car-supportive attitude of the Chennai City Traffic Police, which has all but washed its hands off regulation of vehicular traffic. The CCTP has come to treat road safety as a matter of statistics, quibbling on the number of people killed and maimed, and doing little more to ensure that the roads are made safer.

The Tamil Nadu Government, currently bound hand and foot by the ideologues pushing a “Detroit” in Chennai, would do well to change course and devote itself to its traditional constituency of the less affluent road user. We need broad footpaths, pedestrian subways to cross the arterial roads at the rate one every 200 metres and in the short term, signals for surface crossing of pedestrians with camera-based enforcement.

Without these, the leading city of Dravidasthan will only be a standing example of motoring madness, governmental indifference, and even incompetence.