BKC pod taxi project: why no information, transparency, consultation with stakeh

While the MMRDA is gearing up to start its ambitious pod taxi project to boost lastmile connectivity in Bandra Kurla Complex BKC experts and citizen groups have warned that the proposed mode of transport could end up a failure like the Mumbai Monorail owing to high fares and the MMRDArsquos alleged lack of planning and transparencyAs per the TechnoEconomic Feasibility Study TEFS commissioned by the MMRDA for the project a fare of R21km was proposed with a 15 per cent increase every fourth year The MMRDA in a press statement in September had said that the fare would increase by four per cent every yearTrivankumar Karnani founder MNCDF Citizen Welfare ForumBesides the fare there are challenges in building terminals at Bandra and Kurla railway stations and the route from these suburban railway stations to BKC In addition to heavy encroachment at both railway stations the pod taxi project faces challenges with respect to the alignment with the Metro Line 2B and 3 at a few places while crossing the Western Express Highway near Kalanagar junction will also be a task To justify approval for the pods the TEFS mentions that a total of 4000 commuters travelling to BKC using autorickshaws and buses were surveyed by the consultant over a sevenday period The analysis shows that 483 per cent weighted probability of the respondents are willing to shift to pod taxis hence the project was feasibleThe fare problemCitizens have highlighted that the proposed price of R21km is very high and commuters would prefer share autos or buses despite the difficulties they face In fact the survey conducted in TEFS regarding the willingness of commuters to shift to pod taxis suggested that only those with higher incomes were willing to use the pods Of the 4000 people surveyedmdashthe consultant combined the findings of revealed and stated preference surveysmdashthe TEFS mentions that the results showed that the ldquoeffect of travel cost is more weighted than the effect of the travel timerdquo meaning commuters preferred travelling by cheaper modes of transport irrespective of the time taken to travelThe pod taxi project seeks to boost lastmile connectivity to Bandra Kurla Complex IllustrationUday MohiteAdvocate Trivankumar Karnani founder of MNCDF Citizen Welfare Forum said that the pod taxis project would end up being another lsquowhite elephantrsquo ldquoThere is a lack of information transparency and consultation with multiple stakeholders including citizens The MMRDA did not make its study public and there is no clarity on how they aim to acquire landrdquo Karnani saidHe also questioned the genuineness of the survey ldquoWho are these 4000 people surveyed Despite less than 50 per cent of people willing to switch to pod taxis they went ahead with the projectrdquoThe station area at Kurla where dense residential and commercial areas pose a challenge to the pod taxi project PicSayyed Sameer AbediA V Shenoy transport analyst at the Mumbai Mobility Forum said that the pod taxi project would go the monorail way ldquoThey did not have the technology or supply chain for the monorail and were dependent on only one company Similarly the MMRDA is dependent on only one concessionaire without understanding the supply chain issues of pod taxis What happens even if one pod malfunctions The entire route will be disturbedrdquoShenoy explained that the MMRDA is not thinking of the fares and instead looking at a fancy highvalue project ldquoThe common man cannot afford such high fares Even if you consider half the length of the 88km route the fare would be more than R80 one way This is not affordable for most We should be looking at some timetested project instead of fancy ones that the common man cannot affordrdquoBandra East railway station where land will have to be acquired for the ambitious project PicSatej ShindeTerminal land problemOne of the biggest challenges the project is likely to face is acquiring land outside of BKC limits ie at Bandra and Kurla Railway stations for building the proposed terminals and alignment issues with the existing Metro lines at BKC The report also mentions the challenges of building a pod taxi station at the US Consulate It said the consulate could raise security concernsChallenges at KurlaAs per the report there are physical constraints on section AB which consists of stations between Kurla railway station and LBS Marg ldquoThere are dense residential and commercial areas in the vicinity of the section The builtup areas here are so dense in some places that they have encroached footpathsrdquo stated the reportChallenges at Kurla also include land acquisition and clearing encroachments The TEFS mentions that the roads in the section are very narrow only ranging between 12 m and 18 m To overcome these challenges the report proposed banning motorised vehicles on the route demolishing encroachments and providing separate tracks at different levels for up and down trafficIssues at Bandra stationJust like Kurla Bandra station also faces the same challenges in navigating the congested route and acquiring land near Bandra railway station in the east In section HI which consists of stations between Maker Maxity at BKC and Bandra railway station the TEFS mentions the Kalanagar flyover passing through the median of the carriageway as a challenge The report does not mention solutions to the land acquisition problem near Bandra East railway station It suggests that the pod taxi route should be taken through the same route as the abandoned skywalk by demolishing itAn MMRDA official said that the pods are designed in such a way that it would directly take the passenger to the station they select ldquoFor example if you choose NSE as the destination from Bandra a pod dedicated to NSE will arrive and will directly stop there Hence a lot of time will be savedrdquo He added that MMRDA was not going to spend anything on the project since this was a PPP model ldquoThe concessionaire has to build the project at their cost and recover it from the passengers using itrdquoOfficialSpeakReplying to queries about to fares and land acquisition MMRDA official said that as per the stated preference surveys about 70 per cent auto users and 36 per cent bus users preferred paying R21 per km ldquoHence the fare has been kept at R21kmrdquo the official said Officials said that the land acquisition had to be done by the concessionaire ldquoSince the land belongs to BMC and Railways it is not difficult to acquire the land on lease or purchaserdquoOfficials added that the project would not go the monorail way as it connects to two important suburban stations and will see good footfallThey added that pod taxis can handle 12500 persontrips per km of network per day The capacity may further be increased by making use of bigger taxi pods based on feasibility The system is fully autonomous and driverless with a capacity to carry six passengers per podExperts opinionAshok Datar a transport analyst said ldquoThere was a solution that worked really well in BKC till 2016 but MMRDA abandoned it dedicated bus lanes It ran 120 buses per hour achieving a ridership of 93000 people per day and the costs for buses were not high This project does not cost anything only barriers have to be put up to create dedicated lanesrdquoDatar explained that it seems like MMRDA wants to spend money on highvalue projects that will not bring any solution ldquoMMRDArsquos forecast has been very poor in terms of ridership be it Metro or monorail and it will be the same for pod taxis toordquo he addedCitizensrsquo voicesKinnari Shukal a professional working in a financial organisation in BKC said ldquoThe cost of the pod taxis does not work for anyone travelling beyond a kilometre from the suburban railway stations Despite the harrowing experiences linked to share autos the fare set by them is R30 per seat Pods will just be costlier hence people may not use themrdquoDharmesh Jhaveri a regular commuter to BKCrsquos diamond bourse said ldquoDuring peak hours the maximum fare for a share auto is R30 even a trip to BKC on a premium Chalo bus costs Rs 35 People will not use pod taxis because of thisrdquoldquoWe have held meetings with the traffic commissioner and agencies but the authorities do not pay heed to basic solutions like improving BEST bus services from Bandra If they resolve the encroachment issue and ensure BEST buses reach Bandra the commuting issues at BKC will get resolvedrdquo he added4337Percentage of survey respondents willing to shift to pod taxis as per MMRDAIn Numbers4000 No of people surveyed by the consultant2371 No of bus users who participated1629 No of autorickshaw users who participated53437 of autorickshaw users showed a willingness to switch to pod taxis48137 of Bus users expressed willingness to travel via pod taxisRevealedcumstated preference surveys as per TEFS