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The 'Last Mile' myth
Written By Naveen - 26 June, 2011
Bangalore Bus Bus Stops Analysis Last Mile Transportation public transport public transport Bus metro footpaths
I think the many repeated questions raised about 'Last Mile Connectivity' is more of a creation by the very large affluent private vehicle loving public in this city that loathes walking even short distances to & from bus stops, rather than reality.
For example, in places like Mumbai, Mangalore & Chennai, there are people that easily walk upto 1.5km for PTs & sometimes even 2km, wheras in Bangalore, even distances of less than 1.0km is viewed as a serious "last mile" problem since it compares poorly with private vehicles for mobility that everyone has gotten used to.
In Mumbai, ascending & descending stairs at train stations & walking to bus stops can be more strainous than the exertion of walking over a km, but most people do it as a matter of course & without any fuss everyday amidst crowded & very uncomfortable conditions - & these include many well-off office executives, too, who prefer trains to avoid the time delay & strain of driving long distances through crowded roads. For many residents in suburbs such as Chandivli, Powai & Marol, bus access is well over a km but they walk anyway to take a bus to get to the train station, stand & travel within packed trains & walk more at the stations (both ends).
In Mangalore, buses ply only on well patronised main thorougfares. On NH-17, between Kadri & Pumpwell (2km), there are no buses decades on due to lack of sufficient number of patrons. The story is the same at Ullal, Hoige bazaar, Marnamikatte, etc. Thus, people living in or around these areas are forced to walk well over a km to the nearest bus stop.
Even abroad, the walk component on a trip can be considerable, even in cities that have good PT systems. In fact, real estate prices are dependent on how close or far the home is from the nearest train station or bus stop. There are residential buildings in New York that are far removed from the subway in Queens & Brooklyn, but people walk anyways, but pay lower rentals due to the inconvenience of the location. This does not necessarily mean that buses must be run there, despite the poor patronage.
I don't believe that it's possible to run buses in narrow roads within residential or interior areas with insufficient loads to address the so-called 'last mile' problem for all - any form of PT has this deficiency & this must be accepted as a reality with PT.
Given these examples, why do we find it so hard to accept the fact that buses can only be run where roads are wide enough & where there are sufficient number of users ?
This aside, no large city can manage with only buses for PT - Bangalore is perhaps the only large city of 8 million people that is still trying to do it. All large cities have train systems or Metros on exclusive tracks to move people faster. Buses in mixed traffic can never match the efficiencies of such train systems over long distances.
COMMENTS
amithpallavoor - 14 July, 2016 - 16:47
Last mile connectivity is not a myth. It is an issue. Please be my guest at KG Garden in RR Nagar.
BMTC runs twelve buses through the day and there are no buses after 8 in the evening.
Do we walk to RR Temple everyday, which is at a distance of 2 kms?
The road to BGS Hospital, another bus stop is not safe either. It is a distance of 800 metres.
Some parts of HSR also face this problem. It is next impossible to get to Kengeri Railway station (distanc of 2 kms) by bus from my layout or for that matter to any other part of RR Nagar by bus. We need to travel to these parts to pay our bills, to shop for clothes/ vegetables or even eat out at a restaurant.
The lack of share autos also does not help. Traversing from one sector to another in HSR or for that matter within any new BDA layout or to the nearest bus stop is a herculean task.
I don't want into the insensitive responses that we receive from an incompetent and corrupt BMTC on this issue.
BUS DAY and banning private vehicles should go hand-in-hand
vatsan007 - 18 July, 2016 - 10:24
Having BUS-DAY is great, how do you make it a success? How to you force people to come out of their cars and use it? Force it by banning private vehicles (at least on some corridors) and forciblly make BUS-DAY a success. Else, BUS-DAY will be a failed initiative.
MaheshK - 19 July, 2016 - 04:38
You want to make BUS-DAY a success through force? Makes no sense. Most probably there will be a PIL if people are forced to take bus on that day.
OTOH, BMRCL said that the number of cars will reduce from Indiranagar area when Metro rail is introduced to MG road from Byappanahalli. How many cars have reduced? Has anyone counted the cars?
akauppi - 26 June, 2011 - 18:22
Coming from Helsinki, Finland I try to put these figures in perspective. What is an acceptable distance to walk?
Our closest bus stop is 150m from the door - that's pretty much "just there" and I thought it was actually closer. It's runnable in 1 min, I guess. But often I end up walking to a nearby junction (800m away) to get more connections and more frequent service. That's pretty much the farthest I'd be willing to walk, in this city. I think, the goal for Helsinki city transport was to have stops every 300 m or so. At least our street seems to have that.
Now, it's not only the distance. As Mr. Raja Rao points out:
Walking conditions in Bangalore are not comparable to walking conditions prevailing in other countries. With the amount of pollution one cannot walk with clean dress and come back home clean let alone wearing suits and formal dresses.
Exactly. I've walked in Bangalore, Mangalore and Delhi. So what can we do?
I'd like to bring up two ways further, here.
One is a startup I discussed with last week, here in Helsinki. They're planning a "route finder" application for developing economies, and are currently focusing on Latin America as a service. Now, what we have going on here is "mobile phone assisted public transport". Meaning when I want to go places, I let my phone figure out the timings, exchanges etc. Most of the time, it does it fine.
http://sites.google.com/site/reittigps/
That is the (free) application I use but there are others. Now, the challenge for the startup is, how to replicate this experience in areas s.a. Bangalore. I think it can be done, but there are challenges.
The routes themselves might not be optimal (if they are that even here?). Buses most likely don't run on schedule (well, same here). There's no reliable and cheap 3G Internet coverage. There's probably no real-time tracking of the bus fleet. The capabilities of the average Indian phone are less than what we have.
But what if? I've got this startup *wanting* to bring a solution and natively aware of the Latin American market. Can you give advice and support for bringing them to serve Bangalore as well, in a few years time?
As an individual using public transport, the Reittiopas app has become my #1 helper in being able to navigate the public transport interconnects (not only buses). I do think the model is usable in India as well - in some (slightly different) form.
Actually, this also answers Mr Rao's second concern:
Last mile connectivity is not about connectivity from the residence to the public transport system but it is about the connectivity within the system.
Then, as a step a few more years into the future is my own "bubblemotion" startup. We're into automated electrical transport, essentially filling the exact gap that is being discussed here.
I am coming to India for August, both Mangalore and Bangalore. Most likely arranging a short visit to CiSTUP in BLR. If any of you wants to have a meet-up, I'd be glad.
Asko Kauppi
BM Design Ltd.
vatsan007 - 21 July, 2016 - 07:36
As mentioned before, people in India volunteering for a larger cause are very less. Until and unless they think it is their problem, it won't work. Why do you think lane system is not followed or jay-walking exists or traffic police have to be manning every junction?
Like in Gurgoan, Hyderabad, where some day every week private vehicles are banned in selected corridors, we should follow the same. Having increased public transport (BUS-DAY) on these corridors on that day could be tried out.
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