Planning Strategies for the Improvement of Intermediate Public Transport in Walled City: Case Study of Walled City, Delhi

Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) plays an important role in Indian cities as it helps in connecting the user to the Mass Transit modes and increases the accessibility to these modes. Walled City, Delhi, over a period of time has evolved as a major commercial and recreational area. Over the period of time, the need for IPT in the transport system of Delhi has increased quite rapidly. In 2000–01, the modal share of Cycle Rickshaw and Auto Rickshaw was 6.7%, while in 2007–08, the modal share increased to 11.5%, where cycle rickshaw completed almost 8% of the trips. Only Cycle Rickshaw trips have a share of approximately 34% of the total traffic volume entering the Walled City, which is roughly more than 1/3rd of the total incoming traffic. In this study, indicators such as Traffic Characteristics, Network Characteristics, Socio-Economic Profile, Travel Characteristics and IPT Infrastructure were used to study the IPT system in Walled City, Delhi, and identify the critical issues and gaps which act as hindrances to smooth mobility in the area. After studying and analyzing the IPT system in detail, the major issues identified include the absence of a formal policy framework for IPT which makes the system unorganized and is the major reason for the other issues relating to this sector. This paper discusses the existing situation of IPTs in the Walled City, Delhi, in particular and recommends proposals to improve the existing situation for the seamless operation of IPTs in this area.