Consultants fearful as Mumbai’s automobile rely crosses 48 lakh, 60% are two-wheelers | Mumbai Information

The town’s automobile rely has exceeded 48 lakh, together with 14 lakh non-public automobiles and almost 29 lakh two-wheelers.

The town’s automobile rely has exceeded 48 lakh, together with 14 lakh non-public automobiles and almost 29 lakh two-wheelers. In 2023-24, a mean of 721 automobiles had been registered day by day on the 4 regional transport workplaces (RTOs) in Mumbai. The western suburbs have 21 lakh registered automobiles, the island metropolis has 14 lakh, and the japanese suburbs 13 lakh automobiles.
Consultants are fearful in regards to the metropolis’s rising automobile numbers, which proceed to develop regardless of restricted highway infrastructure.This pattern may result in extra congestion, pollution, and parking issues. Mumbai’s roads are already bursting on the seams, with consultants stressing the necessity to management automobile development to ease congestion, scale back air pollution, enhance air high quality, and reduce commuting delays.

Transport professional Vivek Pai stated, “The automobile rely of Mumbai is thrice of what town can accommodate. To stop the expansion of automobiles, we have to undertake insurance policies corresponding to congestion fees in industrial hubs, lottery methods for buying automobiles like in some overseas nations, having a powerful parking coverage and measures for automobile sharing by which non-public automobiles do not hold ready at one place for 22 hours a day and as an alternative are shared between folks. In the long run, we have to be sure that every metropolis has a automobile census, to grasp the issue higher.”

Public coverage (transportation) analyst Paresh Rawal stated, “With the rise in Mumbai’s inhabitants, there was a surge in its vehicular numbers too. Together with folks, automobiles and bikes are additionally jostling for area. The overburdened suburban rail community has almost maxed out its capability. Therefore, there is a must strengthen different public transportation networks. Buses must be boosted, as it should give us much-needed last-mile connectivity.”
“If devoted bus lanes are offered, it should improve the effectiveness of trains and metros additional. It is solely then will we see some slowing down in using non-public automobiles,” he stated.
A transport activist stated that though every Metro line is predicted to scale back highway visitors by 15%, the freed-up area will rapidly be crammed by new automobiles. “The provision of automobile loans and pageant reductions additional boosts automobile gross sales, contributing to the rising vehicular inhabitants.”

One other professional stated, “The government must also encourage using carpooling and ride-sharing companies to scale back the variety of automobiles on the highway. Moreover, the government ought to put money into the event of electrical automobiles and charging infrastructure to scale back air air pollution and dependence on fossil fuels.”
Consultants additionally identified that with out guaranteeing dependable and cozy first- and last-mile connectivity by way of public transport, the variety of non-public automobiles and bikes will proceed to rise unabated.