Category Archives: Suburban Rail

Taming street-people: India’s grand civilizational project

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

A status message by a friend on Facebook has had me thinking for many weeks now. He wrote: Ranchi is an amazing city. In my first 30 minutes there, two schoolchildren, one bike rider and a goat tried to kill … Continue reading →

Posted in Car-free streets, Equity in Planning, Indian National Movement, Mumbai, Planning History, Ranchi, Safety, Skywalk, social spaces, Street Vendors, Suburban Rail | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Transit as a social space

Posted on September 5, 2010 by

In a previous post, I had argued that air-conditioning transit is a wasteful and avoidable expenditure that adds little to the comfort of the commuter, and that city planners should instead seek to reduce crowding in transit by increasing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mumbai, Needs of the poor, social spaces, Suburban Rail | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

What’s Mumbai been upto?

Posted on July 22, 2010 by

The past month seems to have been a busy month for transportation planners in Mumbai. Here’s a quick round up of what’s going on (with only limited commentary on my part). Continue reading →

Posted in Airport, Environmental Assessment, Metro, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Park-n-ride, Sea-links, Skywalk, Suburban Rail, Transportation Planning, Water Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Transportation in the United States: An open letter to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Posted on July 21, 2010 by

Mr. Chavan, USA is just beginning to realize that there are big flaws in the way it has planned its transportation infrastructure. These mistakes have resulted in huge petroleum imports that drain USA’s exchequer, in a greenhouse gas footprint that threatens the survival of the human species, in an infrastructure demand that helps no one but the contractors who build the infrastructure, and in the all-round destruction of America’s oldest cities. That is the “world-class” transportation infrastructure that you seek to emulate. Continue reading →

Posted in Bike-renting, Bus Rapid Transit, Buses, Car-free streets, Congestion Taxes, Cycle lanes, Cycling needs, Equity in Planning, Footpaths, Governance, Highways, How do cities work?, Land-use Planning, Mumbai, Needs Assessment, Needs of the poor, Participatory Planning, Pedestrian Needs, Planning in Context, Suburban Rail, Suburbs, Transportation Planning, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments