Topic– Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
4) India’s unique travel patterns imply that country specific and city level policies are necessary to address slow urban mobility. Critically analyze.(250 words)
Why this question
India has one of the slowest urban mobility in the world, riddled with congestion. However most of the times the problem is wrongly understood and sometimes also understated. In this context it is essential to understand the situation properly so that better policy decisions can be made.
Directive word
Critically analyze-here we have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts, and present them as a whole in a summary.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to delve deep into the issue and bring out the challenges of urban mobility and the need for country specific and city level policies in order to address the challenges involved.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the problem of traffic congestion in India- e.g Traffic congestion has increased dramatically in India. Congestion and the associated slow urban mobility can have a huge adverse impact on both the quality of life and the economy.
Body-
- Discuss in detail about the problem of traffic mobility in India. E.g mobility is slow in most Indian cities. It is slow even outside the peak hours of traffic, and in both large and small cities. India’s mean travel speed across cities is just 24.4 km per hour, much slower than the mean travel speed globally. There are also big differences in mobility across cities in India. A factor of nearly two separates the fastest and slowest cities. These differences are driven by the differences in uncongested mobility, and not by differences in how congested they are; Travel speed starts declining early in the morning and recovers late in the evening.Longer trips are faster. Trips further away from the city centre are also faster. Congestion really matters close to the city centre, especially in the big cities. Weather characteristics such as rain, humidity, heat, and more windy conditions are associated with higher travel speeds; Non-transportation uses of the roadway do slow down motorized vehicles etc.
- Discuss the need for country specific and city level policies in order to address slow urban mobility. E.g Standard policy recommendations such as congestion pricing or other types of travel restrictions may do little to improve mobility. Instead, potentially costly travel infrastructure investments may be the only way to improve uncongested mobility. Better uncongested mobility generally correlates with the process of faster economic growth; More primary roads and regular grid patterns are associated with faster urban mobility etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
