Executive Education

Urban Transportation

Programme Overview

Urban transportation plays a key role in urban development. It facilitates the smooth movement of goods and people within cities. As per the 2011 census, the urban population in India in 2011 was 360 million (m), constituting 30 per cent of the total population. It grew from 159 m (23 per cent) in 1981. It is projected to grow to 820 m (46 per cent) by 2051. The burgeoning urban population in rapidly expanding cities has resulted in growing urban travel demand. A variety of transport modes, both private (walking, cycling, two-wheelers, and cars) and public (para transit, buses, BRTS, light rail, monorail, suburban rail and metro) are used to meet these travel needs.

 

Travel demand is determined by a number of factors, the primary one being the size of the population. Other determinants include per capita trips and the average trip length. Urban travel demand tends to grow faster than the population due to increase in per capita trips (1.3 in 1982 had risen to 1.6 in 2008) caused by a growing economy and the longer trip lengths necessitated by expanding city size.

 

Some of the consequences of an unchecked travel demand are congestion and pollution. During 1981 to 2008, the number of vehicles in India increased by 19.7 times, from 5.4 m to 106.7 m, whereas the population increased  by 1.7 times. Of the vehicles in 2008, 72 per cent goods (77 m) were two wheelers, 13 per cent (14 m) were cars, jeeps and taxis, and 5 per cent (5 m) were goods vehicles. Just over 1 m were buses. Of the total vehicles, 32 per cent were in the top metropolitan cities which constituted 11 per cent of the population. Cities without good mass transit system, like Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, showed a higher growth rate in vehicular population as compared to those with mass transit systems. Average vehicular speeds in many of these cities were as low as 10 kmph during peak hours. Additionally, only 28 of India’s 88 cities with a population of more than half a million have any formal public transportation system. The share of public transport buses has declined to 0.9 per cent of total vehicle in 2008 from 11.1 per cent in 1951. The increased use of private means of transportation is a major factor adversely impacting energy use and environmental quality.

 

It is an accepted fact that the solution to rapid urbanisation is to increase public transport supply and quality. This also has implications on sustainable land use and transport planning, including encouraging pedestrian and non-motorised transport, and environment friendly para transit.

 

In order to tackle the increasing urban transport problems, the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) was launched in mid-2006 by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) to motivate people centric urban transport solutions instead of focusing on improving the identified a wide spectrum of public transport technologies ranging from the high capacity metro systems (Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, etc) to medium conditions for Private motor vehicles. The NUTP has identified capacity bus rapid transit systems (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, etc), apart from the exiting suburban rail and bus systems. Also, the MoUd has launched two reform oriented missions called the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission of Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to provide financial assistance to cities for various urban development projects including urban transport. Public private partnerships are emerging as a key instrumentality for effective development and delivery. With an estimated provision of Rs. 50,000 crores for a period of seven years, the JNNURM is the single largest central government initiative in the urban sector.

 

While there are various initiatives, there is need for continuous policy review, coordination among policy makers at various governmental levels, and strategic thinking among the senior management of the various current and new organizations emerging to execute and manage urban transport projects and systems.

 

In this context, it is felt that a management development programme could be a significant vehicle to enable strategising and sharing among key functionaries involved in Urban Transportation.

Program Objectives

• To explore the policy and regulatory enviroment influencing urban transportation

• To enhance strategic decision-making skills through analysis and integrated perspectives.

• To understand core general management concepts as applicable to urban transportation.

Program Highlights

Policy, regulatory and technology enviroment.

Environmental issues including energy, pollution, safety, land acquisition, etc.

Strategic management including public private partnerships, concession agreements, technology choice and procurement, route design and inter modal coordination.

Marketing management including revenue management, customer service and service quality.

Operations management including resource scheduling maintenance planning etc.

Financial management including sourcing of funds, investment analysis, accounting and fare fixation.

Human resources management.

Information and Communication Technology, and management.

Program Coordinator

Sanjay Darshan sanjay-exed@iima.ac.in +91 70690 74809
IIMA