High quality public transport, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), integrated
network of pedestrian and cycling facility, parking management, input on
urban planning and development regulation and other such works have
been included in the MoU. The ITDP’s technical support to the civic body
on these initiatives will be funded through grants from international
philanthropic organizations, like the Climate Works Foundation and the Oak Foundation, which are interested in promoting equity and environmental sustainability.

The NGO started its survey on Sunday to study the road scenario,
traffic-related issues and transportation facilities in the district. It
is conducting a mobility access survey, which is a household survey,
with the help of 100 students of Nashik Institute of Technology and
College of Architecture, who will get 600 questionnaires filled from
citizens. They expect to capture 2,500-3,000 people through this survey.

On Sunday, the NGO conducted training sessions of the volunteers for
the survey and a meeting (focused group discussion) with a cross-section
of people for their opinions on traffic and transportation issues in
the city.

Representatives from different income groups, the
physically challenged, corporators, academicians, architects, those
working for women-related issues, ACP (Traffic) Sanjeev Thakur and
others gave their inputs about the transportation situation in the city
and what they have to face on city roads.

Ravindra Patni, a
representative of the disabled, said there is no continuous footpath in
the city, the existing footpaths are uneven and the roads are not
designed for the handicapped. Architect Amruta Pawar, who works for
women’s issues, said there were no special services for women, no proper
reservation in buses and most of the time the buses are full of men due
to which women hesitate to board them. “They wait for the next bus
which increases their waiting time,” she said.

“From this
focused group discussion, we concluded that short-term city plans, which
may not be of very high cost, can be implemented immediately, like a
comprehensive bus network and the development of public transport
plans, among other things. Provision of proper footpaths and pedestrian
safety emerged as important focus points in the meeting. A network of
footpaths can be built immediately,” said Pranjali Deshpande-Agashe,
program lead, Pune, ITDP.

Regional director-India of the NGO
Shreya Gadepalli added that it was very important that the public
transportation be upgraded and made attractive to commuters. “Everyone
wants public transport like the metro because they can connect modernism
with it. High quality BRT system can be implemented. In Ahmedabad, BRT
is very successful.

But a strong marketing campaign for public transport by the civic administration is essential,” she said.

“In the next couple of weeks we will conduct other surveys like travel
pattern in the city, traffic on various streets, parking, duration of
parking, how well parking is managed, etc,” she added.

As per the MoU, the NGO will work for the next four months on these initiatives. The survey will conclude on March 7.

Transport research and evaluation manager Jacob Mason, technical
director Christopher Cost, director of national policy and project
evaluation Colin Hughes and senior associate, transport policy Jamie
Osborne, all from ITDP, and Parthaa Bosu and Sameera Kumar Anthapur from
Clean Air Asia are in the city till March 7, when the survey will
conclude.