Slack public transport, Gurugram’s sore point

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, the biggest corporate hub of north India, aspires to match cosmopolitan cities across the world in  infrastructure in all forms. However, despite its dazzling towering buildings, highways and flyovers and underpasses, it is even far behind many Indian metropolitan cities in one aspect: Public transport.

Thousands of office-goers and local residents, particularly women, travel across the city even during night. Gurugram has not been able to provide a dependable network of safe, secure, easily available and convenient mode of public transport. The lack of a sound public transport system not only inconveniences residents regularly but also throws a challenge in the form of ever increasing vehicular density and traffic congestions. Online operated taxis, which though once were luxury, have today become the backbone of the city transportation. Mobility in the city comes to a halt and chaos reigns every time they go on a strike. 

While successive state governments have been blaming a lack of public acceptance for the failure of various plans and projects, the last year’s survey commissioned by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) brought to the fore many startling facts. The survey (Implementation of City Bus Service Project in Gurugram — Bus Route Planning and Rationalization) was carried out by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).

The survey had 2037 as the target year and proposed 37 bus routes to cover the Gurugram metropolitan area. At present, the city has 22 bus routes on which 18 government and four private buses are plying.

The survey pegged the population in the metropolitan areas of the city at 2179,187 by 2037. According to its findings, almost 51 per cent of the office-goers in the city travelled to their workplaces using a private mode of transport, followed by auto-rickshaws (which accounted for 22 per cent passenger traffic) and the remaining were mostly dependent on private city buses, cabs, Baxis and other means. The commuters had buses as the least preferred mode of transport with 27 per cent respondents citing ‘no route’ and 18 per cent terming ‘crowding’ as the reason for not travelling by buses while others cited security as the major concern.

Metro expansion 

Successive governments had promised to extend the Metro rail service to old Gurugram, Manesar and Dwarka in Delhi. The idea was to transform the DMRC rail service connecting Gurugram to Delhi into a viable local transport. Nothing concrete has been done so far, however. 

Rapid Metro 

It is Gurugram city’s very own Metro rail network introduced by DLF and IL&FS a couple of years ago. It runs all around DLF Cyber City and the Golf Course road and is mainly connected to DLF Phase 2 and 3 and ends at the Sikanderpur Chowk. Aiming to cater to over three lakh commuters, especially foreign nationals, the Metro service could not become popular and acceptable, incurring losses year after year. The common people have never preferred the rapid Metro service as an option owing to its high fares.

Bike taxis

Gurugram has got a new transport mode — two-wheeler taxis — to provide “the much-needed last-mile connectivity” and personalised rides to cover short distances. Uniformed and trained riders carry helmets, disposable caps, wet wipes, and an insurance cover against accidents (both for the rider and the passenger).

All motorcycles have commercial registration numbers and yellow number plates. These motorbike taxis run at a much lower cost than auto-rickshaws, costing between Rs 20 and Rs 25 for the first 3 km with an additional charge of one rupee per minute. The passenger is provided with a bill after the journey. The Baxis, however, are yet to become popular.

Non-motorised transport

A long-cherished dream of the city is to have a non-motorised transport option such as rent a cycle service. Though given to official apathy, a lack of safe roads and excessive population the idea is yet to click, a lot of efforts are being made to create areas that are friendly for pedestrians and cyclists. The rent a cycle service is being planned at all Metro stations in Gurugram and 25 more shelters will come up subsequently at various other locations, including upcoming Rapid Metro stations, malls, hospitals, important roads and roundabouts.

Auto-rickshaws most preferred 

These are the most preferred transport mode in the city. Auto-rickshaws in Gurugram are of two types — shared and hired. Shared auto-rickshaws normally run on a fixed route (point to point) carrying around five to eight people and their prices are also fixed. Then there are auto-rickshaws that are regularly hired and do not ply on meters but rather on the whims and fancies of the drivers. Auto-rickshaws being the only available last-mile connectivity from Metro stations in Gurugram, their drivers are infamous for fleecing passengers with the authorities concerned turning a blind eye. While the Gurugram police have erected pre-paid booths, hardly any auto-rickshaw is ready to follow the rules. If forced to ferry passengers at pre-paid rates, the auto-rickshaws drop them midway. Pink booths, too, were set up to provide special women only auto-rickshaws but most of them have stopped plying. There have been security concerns with women about hiring auto-rickshaws due to recent incidents of rape and robbery by their drivers. The only respite is many auto-rickshaws are now enrolled with app-based online transport services, helping customers to travel at a fair price and have a secure ride.

Internal bus service

It is one of the most ambitious projects launched in Gurugram in the last few years. The GMDA under the aegis of Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) is managing it. Launched over eight months ago, the fleet of low-floor buses aims at seamless connectivity in the entire city. Be it rural areas or new Gurugram or the cyber city, buses have been provided as a solution to the decades-old transportation woes. Data shared by the GMCBL shows that there has been a 37 per cent increase in the average ridership of the service between March and April with the increase in routes. However, a lot is still desired as against 200 buses that were meant to be on roads by May, there are 81 buses in the fleet.

In the absence of air-conditioned buses and desired routes, the service is yet to be accepted by corporate employees and Metro rail passengers looking for last-mile connectivity. Women executives, too, have not shown much confidence in using this mode of transport but the authorities concerned say that with ongoing efforts and addition of routes, it shall be successful soon.

Besides these buses, Gurugram has private city buses which urban people avoided for long owing to rash and negligent driving, overcrowding, frequent brawls and incidents of molestation. The Haryana Roadways city bus service, too, is in a pitiable condition.

‘Gurugaman’ a promising solution 

Gurugaman seems to be a promising solution. The service can be popularised by working on comfort, frequency, route, and timing but most importantly making people aware and confident about it. Besides enhancing comfort and convenience with factors like ACs or security measures, the sharing of transit data can be a game-changer. The public transport data such as bus routes, and schedules are important in ensuring high usage of the service. This information also impacts the experience of customers, which is important in a city like Gurugram because the lack of such information forces people to use alternative modes of transport such as personal vehicles. — Amit Bhatt, Director, Integrated transport, WRI India