Discussion

Which commute do you use the most? The vast majority of my day-to-day routine trips — travelling within the city — are by combining public bus services and walking. There are reasonable bus services here with at least a semblance of reliability for local journeys (the distances I usually have to travel) and, where journey times allow, I also find walking — short distances — practically acceptable and honestly good for my body and mind. For intercity travel, I have done most of it by train as they are more comfortable, environmentally superior and still allow for productive usage up to a few hundred kilometres.

What is the case with public transport in India? Public transport when it comes to Indian urban mobility is a basic need — for the majority not just ubiquitous but in fact the most practically feasible option for their everyday commuting. Public transport usage in Indian cities is astounding by international standards — for example, volumes on Mumbai’s suburban rail network are among the highest of any urban rail system worldwide. However, the comfort, quality and reliability of public transport can differ so much between cities or even between systems in the same city or service tiers. The recent extension metro rail networks in large Indian cities – from Delhi and delserry to Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad among others have raised the standard of urban railway service substantially with large patrons across income segments. They also ensured a meaningful shift of modal ra community mode away from private vehicles (cars) on corridors they serve.

Which things can improve in public transport services? Most Indian cities have areas which require rapid public transport reform and in almost every case these are interlinked. This entails ongoing investments in fleet modernisation, maintenance infrastructure and ride reliability and operations management systems — the very foundational service attributes that determine if public transport is genuinely useful for time-sensitive daily journeys. Last mile connectivity — i.e. the problem of connecting public transport stops with passengers homes and/or generating locations (i.e. businesses or social activties) remains as one of the longest standing hindrances to wider take-up, especially in lower density regions where walking distances are prohibitive, The last mile planning, real time digital info systems, multisystem fare integration for free or nominal cost travel across different services and better infrastructure for elderly and bikes along with upgrades in safety metrics — specifically for women at night etc — are all areas where the public transport holdings can gain a lot by enhancing their functionality to make it more acceptable to a larger part of the population.

Which of these leisure facilities can people of any age use? The public parks as well as other environment-friendly areas are probably the most available pastime facilities – they don’t need a membership, have no age barriers and all at once hold an unbelievably varied set of activities: from elders going for walks in the early mornings to moms supervising their kids playing, from young individuals doing sporting activity to families making use of programs on weekend breaks. Like play spaces, libraries are provided mostly as true age-transcending recreational and cultural venues—between books, networks, and community programming suited for such divergent developmental phases and interests. Swimming pools — when properly accessible and affordable — provide physical activity for all age groups, from babies to seniors. Other cultural institutions are actually all-age spaces, but when the programming and physical design accommodate visitors across ages and abilities rather than relying on narrow demographic assumptions: museums, galleries, heritage sites.

Cue card topic: Do you think youngsters in your country like going to cinemas? As for the most common reaction, cinema attendance among Indian youth is for real, however, things have now become much more complicated with streaming platforms putting a humongous amount of content within our reach of homes. The outing we do with family or friends to visit the cinema is an occasion with its own ambiance and culture, the art of film-watching together in a place where one cannot be distracted, and contextually-responsive audience reaction make for experiences that home-viewing does not replicate — which is part of what keeps young Indians going out to movies rather than streaming them at home. Especially for Bollywood blockbusters, this is still part of a larger narrative that produces extraordinarily high ticket sales (undoubtedly because it is rarely seen as merely an act of consuming content but rather engaging in the quintessentially social experience of mainstream Indian cinema).

How is subway development doing in your country. Metro rail development in India in the last two decades is one of the largest urban transit expansion programmes globally and has changed commuting patterns among citizens across different cities it has been implemented. The Delhi metro — one of the largest and most comprehensive systems — slowly evolved into a real beacon of urban transit quality, influencing subsequent installations in many cities around the country. Metro systems are in varying stages of progress across many cities, such as Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi as networks are being incrementally extended as requested by the inflow of passengers and the securing of funding. Recently, the expansion has gained considerable speed which has been facilitated by central government financial support, state investment and in some cases international development finance. The challenges are well known — land acquisition, cost overruns, construction delays and the need to ensure metro networks actually service multi-functional low-and-middle-income urban spaces of greatest demand for public transport rather than simply higher income corridors — but the bottom line improvements represent a genuine game-changing capital investment in India’s cities.