Transport problems of rapidly developing cities: The case of Bombay

Abstract

Urban areas present transport planners with some of their most difficult problems. Transport problems in the rapidly growing cities of the Third World are complex and multi-dimensional and the nature of demand and the problems created are discernibly different from those of cities in advanced economies where the principal problem is that of accommodating the private car. It is proving difficult for the existing transport system of many Third World cities to satisfy expanding demand related to increasing population, present transport systems are seriously over-loaded, there is back-log in service improvement and there is a severe shortage of resources for the development of new capital intensive solutions. This results in transport systems that are inadequate in both quantitative and qualitative terms. A root cause of the present problem is the lack of attention over time to spatial planning and the distribution of population and economic activities. Bombay is examined as an illustration of the consequences of such a lack of spatial planning. For historical and geographical reasons, Bombay has grown linearly along a north-south axis.While the urban activities and main centres of employment are concentrated at the extreme southern tip of Bombay Island, Residential colonies have developed northwards in a haphazard way along the transport arteries and result in an amorphous city structure. User perception of the existing services and problems are examined by means of a questionnaire survey. The research suggests that on its own the provision of additional transport will not provide solutions to the city's problems which can be tackled more effectively by greater attention to non-transport solutions - land use planning and influencing the patterns of demand.