10 secret insights about mobility in India we could get inspired (or not)

Maeva Hemon
Nov 4 · 8 min read

Whilst visiting my expatriate friends in India, I had the opportunity to travel around in the south of India, from Mumbai to Varkala. Working on mobility solutions for my end of studies project, I got sensitive to the movement around me right when I arrived on Indian land. Going out of the airplane, I had to find my way through Mumbai’s airport to access a dark parking spot. I am very familiar with the Uber app and I did not expect the Uber experience in India to be so different. Cash only, small white cars, no seatbelts, no English, put your phone up with the ride number so that your driver can recognize you in the crowd… And there were a lot of surprises to come!

1. Force it til you make it

I think that is the very first thing you notice as a European driver: driving our sedan cars, we are very careful with every pavement, pole or car we could bump into. We scrupulously respect traffic laws we have been taught. Well, it seems like traffic laws do exist in India, but are not applied in the same way. I have never seen any policeman in two weeks time. Tuktuks and cabs do not go so fast, but they evolve in a dense environnement, where the only rule seems to be: force it til you make it. It is remarkable how drivers will always be so optimistic about finding a way forward!

Same rule goes for how many people will fit in a car, how many suitcase will fit on a car roof…

2. Never reverse

Following the first insight, the idea of reversing seems totally absurd in India. When I arrived in Mumbai, I seriously wondered if the reverse gear actually existed on rickshaws (i.e tuktuk: indian three-wheels-taxis, ingenious but oil-consuming vehicles). Drivers will always force and speed up . They can be in the worst situation (against the car stream on a highway, stuck with another car’s rear-view mirror etc..), they will only back off if they have no other choice. On the bus to Munnar, I still don’t understand how the bus driver could drive so fast and free : we would magically brush past the other vehicles as he was forcing every passage.

As a result, he was evolving smoothly on the road : first engaged, first arrived !

3. Every way (pavement, path, river) is drivable (obviously in both ways)

Indian vehicle can roll on a floor, river, house, grass. Dead-end street, prohibited direction, one-way road, continuous line mark, speed limitation or priority rules are not so much of a big deal. My feeling is that driving in India is more similar to slaloming between Mario kart traps than driving my car in a French city. . If five vehicles fits on a two double-track road width, five vehicles will drive on that road. As a result, pedestrians are warriors, and taking a tuk tuk is often — sadly — the best/only option to go from A to B.

For instance, on our arrival in Kochi, the water level was so high that it was above my knees. It was not a boat but a rickshaw who actually saved us!

4. Horn ok please Vs wait for sign

People say that in India, everything is stronger. Spices, smells, cultural gap.. but sounds as well. In big cities, anyone agrees it is due to the congestion. Engine for sure, but also horns. In France, a horn means a cordial “Fuck you asshole”. In India, the meaning would be closer to “Hi, I am here”. In other words, the absence of horn is a danger in India.

You will use your horn as your blinker. On the back of indian trucks, you will see : “horn ok please”.

Picture from getpitstopapp wordpress

Another example of the use of horns : our host of Munnar, who took us to the train station, honked the horn in every village to show off his new car. Moreover, he also beeped randomly to inform the others drivers to be careful when going down the mountain.

5. Time flies by differently

“Every European coming to India, learns patience if he has it not, and loses it, if he has.” The very different perception of time in India leads to an impossibility to plan anything, or to arrive sharp on time in a precise place. To be honest, everything takes longer.

One of the main pain points for me would be the time it takes to find change when we needed to pay our rides.

Another popular proverb says “In India you know when you leave, but never when you will arrive.”

6. Human consideration over timing

Something I was not expecting to find in India is the goodwill of people. I am still confused and pleasantly surprised about it. We saw a bus stopped when a biker fell behind us. A family payed me a Uber when I had no other mean to move. People from villages were coming to get us when our bus was there. A guy I did not know in Mumbai showed me the city around during a couple of hours. Just like this. Most of these people did not speak English better than my grandparents. Maybe the sentence “I don’t have time” does not exist in Hindi. They have time. They are always ready to help. And it feels indescribably good when you are disoriented or tired.

7. Mobility is a social experience

“Shanti shanti”, a very common expression, means “Slowly slowly”

This principle would be for me the most important: mobility is indeed a real social experience. In India, you never travel alone. In opposition to our closed individual cars, most of the transport, including taxis, are opened. This leads to conversations and interactions. Everyone is your “baya” (i.e brother), and it’s very common that during your travel your tuk tuk driver speaks with other drivers about random thing — sometimes about you. In buses and train, people will really easily ask you questions. Back in France, it kind of feels lonely in the bus!

8. Food break every two hours: chai, chikkis, or maybe a whole meal

Great similarity between India and France : food is very important. When traveling in the train, every 10 minutes people pass to offer coffee, chai, or street food. When taking local buses, be sure that you will stop every hour in a dedicated area to make sure no one will starve!

In the trains, little salesmen will always pass announcing their product to feed the whole train

9. Efficiency over Power (Motorbikes agility over SUV power)

Something which really caught my interest is the difference of vehicle sizes between India and Europe. India is a continent more than a country, and I can not even pretend I have discovered 1% of it, but I did spot some differences in cities. Looking at the parking lots, the space for one vehicle is way smaller than our European spaces. Because the average vehicule is also smaller: tuktuk, motorbikes,very small cars, very small trucks… It makes totally sense when you experienced the first two principles seen above: even for higher classes of population, a little car is more convenient than a SUV. Do we, europeans, need to wait to have a 21000 inhabitants per square kilometer (Mumbai’s density) to get rid of large vehicles in the cities ? We can gain so much space, money, air quality using smaller (or no) vehicles !

In a rickshaw/tuktuk

10. Active people don’t walk or cycle

I strongly believe that walking is the best way to discover a new area. And as much as I love what I have seen of India, one thing really unpleased me: being a pedestrian or a cyclist is more a battle than a pleasure. It’s true than some cities are more bicycle friendly than others, but 1 km in Mumbai really felt like 3 km in Nantes, because of noises, insecurity and stress. However, I have seen a few attempt to develop active modes: for instance, Pune municipality offered a bike share service. Most of the bikes were not maintained, or even not used.. It’s not true to say that no one uses bicycles though: they are often left behind in the streets, but in smaller cities, it’s very common to see children or senior riding their bike Shanti Shanti (i.e slowly slowly).

All of the bicycle riders I have seen were men…

To summarize ?

During this trip, I could catch a glimpse of the challenge of designing safe mobility solutions for a developing country and its 1.3 billions inhabitants.

How can we possibly control the security? Do we need to? How can we push for active modes in big cities where decent pavements or cycle tracks do not exist? But another question would be how can western society could get inspired of the “ shanti shanti “ Indian way of living. Traveling in India, I was always the most stressed person around, because of my western habits of controlling time. How can we slow down? How can our modern societies can approach the question of transportation taking into account distances, but also time, experience and different users’ profile?

And if you have to travel to India, don’t forget that cows will always be the only masters of the roads!

Maeva Hemon

Written by

UX/UI Design Student

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