Mobility solutions for every city junction, neighbourhood, and street
Urban mobility challenges need hyper local solutions
Moving around our cities has become exhausting. Every morning and evening, a ceaseless procession of vehicles inch along roads, two-wheelers spill over to the footpaths, while pedestrians, push cart vendors (and animals) rub shoulders with cars, autos, and buses.
Every street and intersection tells a tale of utter chaos — autos stop haphazardly, people scurry across the junction in absence of pedestrian crossings, illegal structures encroach over footpaths, unclear signages, and so on. The problems at each junction, street, and area are so unique that the solutions also have to be specifically designed.
With a clear understanding of design and scale of the solutions, Sustainable Mobility Network partners employed creative ways to improve mobility in several wards and junctions in Bengaluru, and extended the efforts to Delhi.
Safety at crossroads
From 2012-13 to 2023, Bengaluru’s vehicle population increased by 100 per cent—from 55.26 lakh to 1.11 crore. The city grapples with notorious congestion levels, earning it a spot among the most grid locked urban centres globally. Poorly designed junctions and intersections are not just bottlenecks for traffic streams, they are extremely unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists.
“Most of the fatalities happen at intersections. It is a place where a lot of vehicular movements take place, buses and autos halt, vehicles change lanes, and pedestrians cross streets. That’s why intersections become critical for all kinds of commuters.” — Nishita Parmar, co-founder at Compartment S4 (CS4), an architecture and design studio.
CS4 is working with BBMP for redeveloping three important junctions in Bengaluru — Anand Rao, Mysore Road, and Race course road junctions. The character of intersections varies across the city. For redevelopment, CS4 emphasises on the importance of identifying the various layers that define its character; whether it is the intersection of different road hierarchies, surrounding land use and public ownership, pedestrian traffic, modal shares and vehicular halting, and more.
Interventions beyond intersections
Some intersections, like the ones CS4 worked on, have a complex and layered anatomy. For example, the Anand Rao junction is an intersection point for five roads over which a forked flyover runs. Majority of the users are pedestrians or commuters travelling in autos and buses.
The travel choices and behaviours of the commuters are affected by factors beyond the intersection. Parmar emphasised on the importance of interventions in these corridors beyond the junctions. “At Anand Rao junction, the space under the flyover was dingy and dirty. The empty pocket under the flyover was used to hide stolen items. Thieves and drunkards had taken over the space. Women felt unsafe passing through and completely avoided these areas,” says Parmar.
CS4 studied 100 m of corridor space towards each side and conducted in-depth surveys and observations. Surveys and observation studies provided qualitative analysis of user needs and issues, commuter and pedestrian traffic, and vehicular halting. Traffic studies were conducted to understand the vehicular and pedestrian volumes and conflict points. After conducting extensive studies to analyse the aforementioned layers and more, they consequently designed responsive solutions.
Going local with mobility solutions
Realising the necessity of local intervention, Sensing Local and Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) developed an Urban Revamp challenge in 2022. The challenge invited proposals to reimagine two typical neighbourhood-scale public spaces in Bengaluru’s Doddanekundi and Banaswadi areas.
The participants were required to attend workshops with the residents of both the neighbourhoods. The winning entries addressed mobility challenges of the areas differently, from including traffic calming measures that improve safety to streamlining bus movement and enhancing walkability.
“In Doddanekundi, the focus was on decongesting the commercial spine in the heart of the historical urban village and creating more room for pedestrians. In Banaswadi, the project centred around redesigning public spaces and streets around a stormwater drain to create a slow mobility zone with opportunities for recreation and social spaces and improve safety for local children and elderly residents,” says Ankit Bhargava, co-founder of Sensing Local.
Safer commutes for the community
The Urban Revamp challenge of 2022 achieved remarkable success. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike allocated a substantial ₹41 crores from the Chief Minister’s Amrut Nagoratana Grants 2022–23 for implementation in Doddanekundi and Banaswadi. In 2023, the Urban Revamp challenge continued in its second phase in Bengaluru’s Padarayanapura (Ward 168) and CV Raman Nagar (Ward 117) wards.
“In Padarayanapura, the project involved reclaiming a sizable public square by streamlining bus movement, redesigning the road profile, and introducing safe pedestrian flows,” says Bhargava. While the 2023 Urban Revamp is being implemented in Bengaluru, the 2024 Urban Revamp challenge is underway in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar and Sanjay Basti stretches.
Emphasising the hyperlocal nature of cities, and areas within a city, Nidhi Punetha from YLAC describes how the Delhi assembly and central government collaborate to govern Delhi, resulting in layered city authority.
“To bring any change, multiple governments need to collaborate. To add to this, there is an enormous difference in the attitudes, temperament, and perspectives of the people of Delhi and Bengaluru.” — Nidhi Punetha, Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC)
A popular hub for UPSC aspirants, Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar has a thick concentration of educational institutions and students, leading to severe mobility challenges. Sanjay Basti has a serious issue of law and order and petty crime.
“In Sanjay Basti, 60 per cent of the representatives were women. They were concerned about dimly lit parks and an unsafe environment that led to eve teasing and harassment in the area,” Punetha said. The women suggested adding more street lights, toilets, and making the park accessible to women and children. The third edition of the Urban Revamp challenge has reached the jury round with the submission of entries.
“Bengaluru has one of the highest number of pedestrian deaths and is also rated as one of the most congested in the world. In this context, there is an urgency to prioritise non-motorised and public transport, making it safer and equitable both from an availability and accessibility standpoint.” — Ankit Bhargava, co-founder, Sensing Local.
Concrete plans before building
Our cities are being built in chaos. The whirlwind urban expansion has left us grappling with issues related to water shortage, waste mismanagement, increased heat stress, and mobility. Before laying the foundation stone, the authorities, researchers, and residents should gain knowledge of the environmental and social cost of the project.
By strategically designing roads, intersections, and public spaces, traffic flow can be optimised, pedestrian safety enhanced, and public transport accessibility improved, ultimately leading to a more efficient and sustainable urban mobility system. Effective post-project interventions bear a higher cost and may not be possible in situations where resources have been completely depleted.
Write to us with your thoughts, feedback, and/or ideas for collaboration at sustainablemobilitynetwork@gmail.com.
