Travellers on an eco-friendly road

The bus rapid transit (BRT) system is often held as an affordable and sustainable public transport option in rapidly urbanising cities of capital-deficit developing countries like India. However, it seems to be going the way of other worthwhile projects that become “holy cows”. We hesitate to evaluate BRT critically for fears of playing into the hands of the Metro lobby.

Letters - October 31, 2012

Wasted resource

Car Control

Cities all over the world are checking car population to free their road space. Anumita Roychowdhury finds out where India is headed

No public transport?

On April 21, a small stretch of road in a congested corner of south Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, turned into an epicentre of chaos, confusion and downright indignation.

Letter

Play safe with forests

Letters

Divide and rule forests

Letters

Set the record straight

Parking that can’t be found

Khan Market in boulevard Delhi is said to be the most expensive real estate in India, maybe even in the world. But in this richest shopping destination, buyers do not want to pay for parking their vehicles.

Three steps for India

Indian cities need to put the brakes. But how? "Think of what London and Singapore did before graduating to sophisticated restraints," said Paul Barter of Singapore National University. Singapore slapped high taxes on new cars and annual taxes on cars in use. It could be 160 per cent of the market value of the car.

Parking brakes

Portland, Oregon: set a cap of 40,000 parking spaces downtown. This increased public transport usage from 20-25 per cent in the 1970s to 48 per cent in mid- 1990s  Seattle: allows a maximum of one parking space per 100 square metres at downtown offices  San Francisco: limits parking to seven per cent of a downtown building's floor area