Assessment of Transport Scenario in Planned and Unplanned Cities

Abstract

The well-organized and proficient transport systems is indispensable in the medium sized and densely populated cities to upkeep the economy and the well-being of the inhabitants/ commuters. Enhancement in the transport structure and predominantly the rapid development and strengthening of the road network could deliver the indispensable drive for its economic advancement. Recent rapid urban development in India has resulted in transport problems, such as traffic congestion and an increase in traffic accidents. Although the national and state governments have made substantial efforts to improve urban transport, problems have been worsened by the rapidly increasing number of private vehicles. As you would expect, India’s developing cities are densely populated and in a haphazard way as roads in the city are congested and encroached by other activities. Bus services in particular have deteriorated and their efficiency and quality of service have been declining thus inducing commuters to turn to personalized modes. Moreover, footpaths today are encroached by parked vehicles, hawkers and roadside business forcing pedestrians to walk on the road which in turn leads to congestion and chaos whereas developed cities too have dense population but in an organized manner as most of them understand the importance of public transport system. Every period of time, a level of service for the public transportation should be accomplished to provide a real data from the real users to understand their compliments and to provide best service for them. The promotion of public transport by the government has yet to produce satisfactory results in terms of bringing a significant switch in mode of transport particularly in Patna, which is the capital of densely populated state of India i.e. Bihar. The limited civilized space poses an urgent need to discourage the growing use of private vehicle by its residents. The primary aim of this study is to understand the actual area of improvement in developing city (Patna) by doing comparative assessment with the developed city (Chandigarh) in field of public transport. It is the new way for planning public transport services in developing cities in India in which there will be harmonious interaction between public transport and the needs of citizens which will help in the policy makers to formulate a better effective public transport policy in the future.