How can we improve the traffic condition in our city?

How can we improve the traffic condition in our city? It’s actually a million dollar question for the residents as well as the commuters in Mumbai…

Lets first discuss the situation of traffic in Mumbai, the Financial & Entertainment Capital of the country and also the city of dreams for many, including me… The traffic condition here in Mumbai is really pathetic and is getting worsened by every crossing day. Imagine the time one requires, to travel from Borivali to Bandra or Chembur to Goregaon and that too, if he/she is traveling in the peak hours then it will be like an added advantage disadvantage… State / Local Government may be trying to resole these problems, but having said that I would like to mention that till the time these solutions are in place, by then the condition will deteriorate more badly…

Lets analyze, why the traffic conditions are deteriorating, primarily because of our growing economy; as the economy grows, the citizens will become more rich thus buying more and more cars and two-wheelers… As the population of Mumbai is increasing, the government has to increase the number of buses, since BEST buses are one of the most used and preferred way of transport throughout the city and also the number of taxis and auto-rickshaws are increasing day by day, hence increasing the chaos in the city…

I lived in NCR for more than 4 years before moving to Mumbai; if we compare the traffic conditions of both these cities then NCR is far ahead in terms of having better traffic conditions than Mumbai… The conditions there are better, not because the people there have less number of vehicles or the people traveling from the buses are less… So what’s the reason behind the better conditions, the reason is simple: the government had managed the traffic good and also they had taken the necessary steps on time…

According to me, what exactly is needed in Mumbai to improve the traffic conditions are as follows:-

Ÿ Infrastructure is really the need of the hour… More flyovers, skywalks, dedicated bus lanes, Metro rail system, better local train systems, etc. I agree that government had already sanctioned 50 skywalks to be built in the city including in Thane and Kalyan, also the work for 2 Metro routes had already started but Mumbai doesn’t only need 2 Metro routes and 50 skywalks but lot more than that… Why can’t we think of building the Metro network across the city including the suburbs like Thane, Navi Mumbai, etc? If Delhi Metro is taking their routes to NOIDA and Ghaziabad, why can’t we replicate such a system in our city?

Ÿ The second step needed is better and timely execution of the ongoing projects. Projects should not cross their allotted deadlines. Project delays also cause lot of chaos and even till the time they keep going they worsen the traffic condition of the area. If people working in the private companies can match their deadlines, why can’t people working in these government project?

Ÿ More public-private partnerships are required in developing the necessary infrastructure. Private / Corporate involvement is necessary since those are the people, who know how to execute any project in a better way and in less time too.

More such steps could be taken, which may actually prove effective in improving the traffic condition of our beloved city - Mumbai.