Global forecasting organisation Oxford Economics recently featured the city among the top ten cities in the world that could emerge as the fastest growing in the world between 2019 and 2035, in a report which suggested that the city’s GDP would outpace the country’s annual growth at a strong 8.16% every year.
The projections, however, seem to be far-fetched in a city where its public transport system struggles to keep pace with its booming economy.
Increasing dependence on private vehicles has led to a mobility crisis despite the presence of a mass rapid transit system in a city which is known for its connectivity with other cities. The preference for individual means of transport is pushing up pollution levels sharply, besides adding to congestion on city roads.
For years, auto-rickshaws that ply on the same routes as the city buses have been eating into the revenue of the APSRTC as well as impacting the occupancy ratio of the buses. APSRTC operates 5,603 trips on 131 routes daily, yet 35% of the seats went empty in 2018-19.
“Even when there’s a bus at the bus stop, many people prefer taking the auto-rickshaws. The reason? Auto-rickshaws move faster in city traffic and those who can afford to pay more hop in without a second thought. To change this, a lot of things need to be done and RTC alone cannot do it,” said an official of the APSRTC.
Adding to the competition are app-based cab services and bike taxis that reach out to people in areas not connected by city buses.
However, there is scope for APSRTC to improve by opening up new routes and increasing the frequency of the trips, says Manohar Emani, a software engineer well-versed with the bus rapid transport system in the city. Mr. Manohar developed a smartphone app with bus transit information and runs a Facebook page through which request for new routes are gathered and taken to the notice of the depot managers concerned.
More routes needed
“There are several routes that were dropped by the APSRTC due to various issues. One major problem with connectivity in the core of the city is that buses ply only on three roads — the Eluru Road, the M.G. Road and Five Route which stretch parallell to each other. People who want to go somewhere on M.G. Road from Eluru Road have to use auto-rickshaws that ply on the shortest routes and save time. This is where auto-rickshaws in large numbers are finding space to operate,” Mr. Manohar said.
To overcome such issues, the city needs to have a separate metropolitan corporation for public transportation, he says. More than 8,000 auto-rickshaws ply in and around the city.
Though the APSRTC has conducted surveys to introduce new routes, a lack of proper road infrastructure forced it to drop its plans.
Electric mini-buses
Explaining the current problem with the city’s motorised public transport, Md. Abdul Razak, professor in Department of Planning and Dean, Faculty Welfare at the School of Planning and Architecture, said that public transport is still inaccessible in the majority of the interior areas here.
“We need to have mini electric bus services that can run through the colonies. But there should be a proper study of internal streets that can be connected. Owning a private vehicle has become easy these days and their number is going up even in suburban areas. To counter it, public mobility services should be more easily accessible,” Prof. Razak said.
Most importantly, space for non-motorised transport, including walking and cycling, should be provided on all the roads, he added.
In a bid to address the rising pollution levels due to increasing vehicles, VMC and APSRTC were asked to come up with electric buses by the Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) which held a meeting recently under the sustainable cities project of UNIDO and Housing and Urban Affairs ministry.
Plans that failed
The plans of building cycling tracks and walking tracks on particular roads by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation failed to materialise in the past. The Bus Rapid Transit System also failed to take off in the city. The proposal is yet to move forward. Also, the civic body contemplated introducing ferry services as an alternate mode of transport in the canals but couldn’t due to delay in the cleaning of canals. The Light Metro Rail project is also in limbo.
