This webinar was hosted on February 27, 2015 and was conducted by Sahana Goswami (Senior Project Associate, EMBARQ India) and the guest speaker will be Mr. Vasanth Rao (General Manager – Finance, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited). Providing safe access to mass transit stations is a critical urban issue that urgently needs to be resolved in Indian cities. A growing number of Indian cities are building mass transit systems such as metro rail, light rail and BRTS to meet the mobility needs of citizens. Enabling safe access to these transit stations is essential to improve the user experience and ridership numbers. Mr. Vasanth Rao presented learnings from the Namma Metro experience in Bangalore, while explaining BMRCLs approach to enabling safe access to mass transit. This was the first webinar from the Safe Access Manual (SAM) webinar series that will run over the next few months, where featured guests and EMBARQ India staff will highlight critical issues discussed in EMBARQ India's latest Manual - The Safe Access Manual: Safe Access to Mass Transit Stations. The manual focuses on key findings on providing safe access and highlights learnings from EMBARQ’s own experience from working with various government agencies in cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Hubli-Dharwad. Safe Access Manual can be accessed here - http://embarqindiahub.org/publications/safe-access-manual-safe-access-mass-transit-stations-indian-cities To join upcoming webinars, click here - http://embarqindiahub.org/e-learning/webinars

1. Safe Access Manual Webinar 1
Enabling Safe Access to Mass Transit Stations

2. Sahana Goswami
Senior Project Associate, EMBARQ India
Vasanth Rao
General Manager – Finance, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited
Enabling Safe Access to Mass Transit Stations

3. Challenges in urbanizing India
32% of total population
of India lives in cities

4. Challenges in urbanizing India
Data from MoRTH
Traffic Fatalities
9.1% 3.5%
28.6%
41.2%
Traffic Fatalities (2011)
140 000

5. A recent strategy has been to
Develop MRT (ex: Metro Rail, Bus Rapid Transit)
To counter urban transport issues by creating a sustainable
mobility option, reduce congestion on roads and improve air
quality
Challenges to safe access in urban India
8 BRTS in operation6 Metro Rail in operation

6. Challenges to safe access in urban India
But deploying MRT might have limited efficacy within a city
when it is not a part of an integrated strategy to improve
mobility and the urban experience

7. Safe Access Manual

8. EMBARQ India projects in
Mumbai, Bangalore and Hubli-
Dharwad are heavily referenced
as well as cases from other cities
(Indian and global) where
innovative mechanisms have been
applied to create or improve
station accessibility and station
areas.
Safe Access Manual: Safe Access to Mass Transit
Stations in Indian Cities

9. A station area is a place of connectivity where different
modes of transportation come together seamlessly and
where work, live, shop and play can happen
simultaneously.
Station areas around mass transit

10. The safe access approach
In the safe access
approach the needs of
“PEOPLE” lie at the
centre of the strategies
developed for station
accessibility plans and
station area
improvements.

11. Mechanisms to Plan and Implement SAP

12. State or metropolitan authorities need to ensure coordination between multiple
agencies.
Planning & implementing station accessibility plans

13. Critical need for public engagement at multiple stages and
good/ relevant data collection
Planning & implementing station accessibility plans

14. Evaluating Station Accessibility Plans

15. The need for good data at evaluate station accessibility plans
Evaluation through user surveys and other metrics at multiple stages
Evaluating station accessibility plans

16. Evaluating station accessibility plans

18. Bangalore Metro Rail
Corporation
Safe Access

19. The namma metro corridor
 The BMRCL Metro E-W & N-S corridors are Located in an area
with a high density of employment, retail activity, and/or
population and generally within walking and bicycling distance.
 However, despite this planed feature BMRCL recognizes that if
ridership has to increase, a lot more has to be done.
 Safe access to Metro rail is two fold:
 A. Safe Access to within the station boundary including the
train and;
 B. Safe access to the station from public street.

22. Access within the Station Boundary
 Safe access within the Metro station boundary should answers
whether it is:
 easily accessible from the street front the commuters in
general and to the physically challenged and the aged and
the infirm.
 Safety and comfort of the commuters.

23. Access within the Station Boundary
BMRCL station design answers these two issues adequately
 stations access are designed for the peak load with
sufficient entry and exits including emergency exit.
 convenient ramp entry, escalators and lift for the
persons with disability and the aged and infirm. Within
the train there is a defined spaces for wheelchair. There
is a disability audit in place.
For the safety the commuters
 both at the stations and in the train cars state of the art 360
degrees surveillance cameras.
 For the comfort of travelling the trains are air-conditioned
and well maintained.

24. The challenge
 While the design of the metro station sufficiently answers
the definition of ‘safe access’ the challenge is the access to
the metro station using non-motorized transport.

25. The challenge
 Walking and bicycling to the metro station can be
inconvenient, uncomfortable, and/or unsafe, owing to a lack
of good pedestrian and cycle path.
 The width of the footpath is highly reduced by trees and
electrical poles making them safe ‘Tree path’ and safe ‘pole
path’ rather than safe pedestrian path.
 The fact is that the Metro Stations have bicycling facilities
yet there are no users for the simple reason that the roads
are not safe enough.

26. Problems with stakeholders
 There too many stakeholders claiming ‘ownership’ of the
pedestrian pathway- apart from the pedestrians and civic
agencies - the tree crusaders, cable operators, hawkers, kiosk,
two wheeler parking.
 The selection of appropriate tree species has been a problem.
In Urban cities we need a green cover, not a forest.
 Multiple cable operators and unscientific laying of cables and
complete absence of a duct system.
 Hawkers – livelihood issues and hence pose a problem with
NGOs working for them.
 Restaurants using footpath for vehicle parking

27.  With a multitude of ‘occupants’ of the footpath, the
question is how to improve access to the metro
stations ?
 BMRCL does not have the jurisdiction beyond the station
boundary
 BMRCL is prepared to work with various government and
private agencies towards the last-mile connectivity and
greater accessibility for the commuters.

28.  Improving access to the metro stations
 BMRCL is already working with BMTC for the feeder route
services and though the feeder route plan for each of the
stations has been designed, it can become effective once
the Phase 1 operational.
 Bus bays are planned at stations and a common mobility
care is also in the offing.

29.  BMRCL is working with BBMP for allocating
proportionate spending on roads and footpath and
drains.
 However, with multitude groups staking ownership of the
footpath and road, BBMP is far from finding a solution that
fits all for a safe access especially for non-motorized
transport.
 With interest groups working at cross purpose, its is
becoming difficult for BBMP to draw clear guidelines, though
substantial work has been done by city planners for
equitable access to the metro stations.
 Apparently BBMP is not able to take leadership as each
stakeholders has a point of view which does not converge
with other groups to arrive at a meaningful solution.

30.  There is no running away from the fact that it is the
BBMP that has to take the leadership as far as civic
roads and footpaths are concerned.
 Since stakeholders have their unyielding point of view,
the onus now appears to be directly with the community
to come together and decide what is good for them.
 Community is ultimately the owner of the city, the
community, along with the city planners, has to take a
greater role to evolve a consensus for safe access.

31. End