UPSC Mains 2014 · GS Paper III · Q8

UPSC Mains 2014 GS Paper 3 Q8: model answer

National Urban Transport Policy emphasises on 'moving people' instead of 'moving vehicles'. Discuss critically the success of the various strategies of the Government in this regard.

12 marks200 wordsDirective: Discuss

What the question wants

Critically assess how far government strategies have succeeded in shifting urban transport towards moving people rather than vehicles.

How to structure it

Policy aim, strategies, success, gaps.

NUTP 2006 aim
Strategies
Successes
Failures
Way forward

How to think it through

NUTP 2006: equitable allocation of road space, public transport, NMT, integrated land use and transport, Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority. Strategies: JNNURM buses, Metro rail, BRTS, Smart Cities, FAME e-buses, PM e-Bus Sewa (10,000 buses), cycle tracks. Success: Delhi Metro, Kochi Water Metro, Indore BRTS. Failures: Delhi BRTS scrapped 2016, cars rising, poor last-mile, UMTAs weak, bus fleet shortage.

Model answer

A bus carries about 40 people in the road space of two cars. The National Urban Transport Policy (2006) built itself on that arithmetic: plan roads for people, not vehicles.

Strategies adopted

Metro rail in more than 20 cities, with Delhi Metro the model.
City buses funded under JNNURM and now PM e-Bus Sewa (10,000 e-buses).
BRTS in Ahmedabad, Indore and Pune.
Non-motorised transport: footpaths and cycle tracks under Smart Cities.
Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities and Transit Oriented Development policy (2017).
Parking policies and congestion charges discussed.

Where it worked

Delhi Metro has crossed 70 lakh passenger journeys on its record days.
Kochi built an integrated metro, water metro and feeder system.
Ahmedabad BRTS won international awards in its early years.

Where it fell short

Delhi's BRTS was dismantled in 2016 after car users protested.
Too few buses: most cities run far below the MoHUA benchmark of about 60 buses per lakh people.
Last-mile gaps mean Metro ridership is often below projections.
UMTAs exist mostly on paper; land use and transport are planned separately.
Car and two-wheeler registrations keep rising.

Way forward

Bus first, metro second; integrated fares and one card (NCMC).
Make UMTAs statutory, with control over funds and land use.
Safe walking and cycling, parking pricing.

India has built the trains; it still has to give road space back to people.

Draw: A road cross-section showing space per person for a car, a bus and a cyclist.

Keywords, cases and data to drop in

NUTP 2006, moving people, Metro, BRTS, PM e-Bus Sewa, UMTA, TOD policy 2017, NMT, NCMC, Kochi Water Metro.

Where most answers lose marks

Listing Metro projects as proof of success. 'Discuss critically' needs the failures too.

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