INTRA-URBAN TRANSPORT

INFRASTRUCTURE
 89

INTRA-URBAN TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

O v E R THE years, the term 'infrastructure' has been identified with mega physical
projects such as power plants, sewerage projects, express highways, communication network
etc Infrastructure is a complex issue that covers wide ranging physical, economic and social
activities with bearing on economic growth and environmental concern (OECD, 1993; U.S
National Academy o f Sciences, 1993). Infrastructure is an ongoing process o f delivering services
that has the power to determine the quality of life for residents including their health and
well-being, particularly in urban areas. Better urban infrastructure (transportation, communi­
cation, water, sewerage, health care) increase employment and productivity resulting into
overall development o f macro-economy (Baijor Mehta, 1997)

Among the basic urban infrastructural facilities, transport service appears to be more
important as mobility, today, has come to be recognized as in integral part o f city life. The
service is used only as an access to various activities such as trade, commerce, industry,
residence, administration, health, education, finance, religion and recreation. (Appendix -XII
Length o f Road network in Ahmedabad city)

The delivery of efficient (in terms o f quantity, quality and cost) transport services in terms
of road space, parking and traffic control measures, have not kept pace with urban growth
The population o f Ahmedabad city has gone up from 1.15 million in 1961 to 2.88 million
in 1991. This accounts for 20.3 per cent o f the urban population o f Gujarat State (14.2 million-
1991). The city has a total road length of 1214 kms, amounting to 6.3 kms of road network
per sq. km. area. The road length was 796 7 in 1961. The number o f buses have increased
from 354 in 1961 to 732 in 1991. Thus, it can be seen that between 1961 and 1991, the
number o f buses and road length have increased two times and one and a half times respectively,
while the population has multiplied by two and a half times This rapidly increasing population
has put a great pressure on the AMTS. Due to the inadequacy of the public transport service,
the number of privately owned vehicles are increasing with the expansion o f the city area from
92 98 Sq. km. in 1961 to 190 Sq.km, in 1991. Thus, the average number o f passengers using
AMTS has decreased from 3,89,853 during 1961-62 to 3,59,699 during 1991-92. The average
 90

number o f passengers per bus, per day has also decreased from 1068 to 985 during the same
period (*The population per bus has shown an increase from 3248 in 1961 to 3930 in 1991.)

To serve the increasing population, the number of routes and route length have shown
an increase from 105 to 232 and from 6 87 kms to 11.65 kms respectively. However, the
present statistics reveal the pressure on the fleet, leading to deteriorating public transport service.
Efficient and dependable public transport service is absolutely necessary, especially in urban
area, to promote better living condition of urban residents and enhance economic production.

Growth of Public Transport Service

Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) started its operation in 1947 with 60
buses on 29 routes with an average number of 50,000 passengers daily. The service has expanded
over the years and in 1996, there were 612 buses on 169 routes with an average number
of 6.83 lakh passengers daily.

TABLE - 7.1

Temporal Growth of Ahmedabad City and Transport Service

Year Area (in Populati Density Total Average Average Number Average Average
Sq. Kin) on (in of number number distance of routes distance daily
million) populati of of covered operating of a earning
on (per buses passeng per bus route per bus
Sq. km) in fleet ere per per day in (in kms) on road
bus, per day kms (Gross) (in Rs.)

1961 92.98 115 12,367 354 3248 177 105 6.87 131

1971 92.98 159 17,053 525 3020 184 166 9.44 231

1981 98.15 2.06 20,985 662 3111 191 208 10.45 575

1991 190.84 2.88 15,074 732 3929 195 232 1165 1430

(Source Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad-1997)

 91

The total number o f buses increased from 354 in 1961 to 732 in 1991 with an increase
in the average number of passengers from 3248 to 3929, per bus per day, during the same
period (Table-7 1). This clearly shows an increasing load on the existing transport service,
affecting adversely on the system of functioning. To manage this increasing load efficiently,
the number of routes and average route distance increased from 105 to 232 and 6 87 kms
to 11.65 kms respectively, during 1961-91. The increase in average route length and number
of routes is a positive indicator of development of AMTS, as it shows extension and improvement
of transport services. The longer routes serve the newer areas o f both AMC and the out
growths (beyond the Municipal area).

Urban Transport Nodes and Spatial Linkage

Out of the total number of 30 transport nodes, four emerge as very significant in terms
of number o f routes originating and terminating. Out of these four nodes, three nodes, namely
Lai Darwaja, Kalupur and Sarangpur are located in the Walled city of Ahmedabad which has
an area o f 549 08 ha. and a population of 4,03,748 (1991) The only other significant node
is Maninagar, which is located outside the Walled city, within the Eastern municipal area of
Ahmedabad city. These transport nodes are within a distance of 2 to 3 kms from each other.
The other 26 nodes are scattered all over the city (excluding the Walled city) Out of the
26 nodes, 15 are within the eastern municipal limit, 7 are within western municipal limit,
while the remaining 4 lie outside the western municipal limit (Figure. 7.1) All the transport
nodes of Ahmedabad, together have 169 routes in operation. The three nodes of the Walled
city are more significant as they account for 71 per cent of these routes (Lai Darwaja
40.24 percent, Kalupur • 18 93 percent and Sarangpur 11.83 percent). The total number
of routes operated by these nodes along with their total number o f trips, buses, passengers
and the density o f population, houses, shops and offices, provide the necessary insight into
the magnitude of the traffic congestion and associated air and noise pollution in the
area.
 PUBLIC TRANSPORT NETWORK OF AHMEDABAD
WITH NODES AND DESTINATIONS

X
F-PH
&
'T —3

£ ■K'
T C

v.-t-
*7?

-iV\i
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44 X

U .

..... *-• /
r .......l
. . . . . . V --‘ rr

IN D E X

■ PRIME NODES
■ OTHER NODES
& DESTINATIONS
AMT S ROUTES 1 LAL DARWAJA
. . . . OTHER ROADS 2 KALUPUR
RAILWAY LINE 3 SARANGPUR
— MUNICIPAL LIMIT 4 MANINAGAR KM5
MAP-
F IG 7.1
 93

TABLE-7.2

Number of Routes, Trips and Route Distance by

Transport Nodes

Transport Number of Total route Average Total Average

Nodes routes length route number of number of
(in kms) length trips trips
(in kms)

Lai Darwaja 68 802 60 11.80 4099 66 11

(WC)

Kalupur
(WC) 32 367 80 11.49 1707 53 34

Sarangpur
(WC) 20 234 05 11 70 1091 57.42

Maninagar
(EML) 14 239.95 17 14 1380 98.57

Others 35 542 90 15 51 2210 69 06

(WML-7
WOA-4
EML-15)

Total 169 2187.30 12.94 10487 65.96

(WC - Walled city, E.ML - Eastern Municipal Limit, W M L - Western Municipal

Limit, WO A-Western Outer Area)

The average route length of the transport nodes located in the Walled city is only 11
to 12 kms as they are centrally located. The nodes which are less important and scattered
over the eastern and western areas including Maninagar have comparatively higher average
route length of 15 to 17 kms as they cover the peripheral areas in most of the directions
(Table-7 2) (Appendix No XTV)
 94

The total number o f trips is directly proportionate to the number o f routes. However,
the average number of trips per route is propotionate to the number o f routes. The highest
average number of trips i.e 98.57 or 99 is recorded for Maninagar transport node followed
by Sarangpur (57), Lai Darwaja (66), and Kalupur (53) On the whole, 10,487 trips are made
in the city during the day (6.00 a m. to 10.00 p m.) with an average trips of 66 per route,
covering not only the municipal area but also the adjacent urban villages or outgrowths of
Ahmedabad urban agglomeration (namely Thaltej, Sheelaj, Vastrapur, Bopal, Ambli, Sarkhej etc.)

The number of buses operating via these nodes on different routes, show an interesting
pattern. Out of a total number o f 655 buses, 229 buses (35 percent) operate from Lai Darwaja
node Walled city as a whole, has 381 buses (58 17 percent), while Maninagar has 119
buses (18.17 percent) and other smaller nodes o f municipal area together account for 155 buses
(41 43 percent) in operation (Figure-7.2). Moreover, the average age of the buses have

increased from 11 21 years in 1990-91 to 14 10 in 1995-96 AMTS aims at not using a bus
for more than 8 years. But due to lack o f adequate funds, 60 percent of the buses are
overage 422 buses are more than 11 years old (1991-92).

The total number of passengers (684,926) availing the facility o f public transport system
via these transport nodes differs from node to node. Out of the total o f 6,84,926 daily passengers
2,31,944 passengers are from the Lai Darwaja node (33 86 per cent o f total passengers) The
cumulative share o f the three nodes o f Walled city is 56.18 percent o f the total passengers.
Maninagar, an important transport node o f the eastern municipal area, accounts for 20.39 percent
o f the total passengers. The other smaller nodes account for the remaining 23.43 percent
o f passengers. The optimum number of seats offered per trip per bus by AMTS is 65.
The average number of passengers per trip for the city as a whole is 65 (Table-7.3) which
is ideal. But this situation differs greatly from route to route. The average number of passengers
per trip varies between 53 to 57 for the trips operated from Lai Darwaja, Kalupur and Sarangpur.
On the other hand, the transport nodes outside the Walled city have a higher average number
of passengers per trip ranging from 73 to 101. This reflects the inadequacy o f the number
of buses and trips
FIG. 7.2
 96

TABLE-7.3
Number of Buses, Passengers and Occupancy Ratio by
Transport Nodes.

Transport Total Total No. Average Total Occup Revenue

Nodes No. of of No. of Seats ancy Kms.
buses Passen passen offered Ratio
gers gers per
trip

Lai Darwaja 229 2,31,944 57 2,66,435 87.05 44,449

Kalupur 97 94,307 55 1,10,955 85.00 19,542

Sarangpur 55 58,548 54 70,915 82.56 11,554

Maninagar 119 1,39,720 101 89,700 155 76 23 744

others 155 1,60,407 73 1,38,710 115.64 31,752

Total 655 - 6,84,926 65 6,76,715 101.21 1,31,041

Occupancy Ratio

The occupancy ratio is calculated on the basis of the seats offered per bus by the
Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (by routes and nodes) and the actual number of
passengers using the services Each bus offers 65 seats per trip but the number of passengers
vary from node to node leading to varying occupancy ratio The routes originating from the
nodes of the Walled city (namely Lai Darwaja, Kalupur and Sarangpur) offer more seats in
comparison to what is actually used by the passengers. Their occupancy ratio are 87.05, 85.00
and 82.56 respectively Whereas, in the case of Maninagar and other smaller nodes, the number
of seats fall short of the actual number of passengers Thus, Maninagar and other nodes have
a high occupancy ratio o f 155.76 and 115.64 respectively, indicating a high passenger load
on their routes. For the city as a whole, the occupancy ratio is 101 21. This shows the
inadequacy o f the transport service, as the total number o f seats offered (6,75,715) is less
than the actual number o f passengers (6,84,926) using the service.
Occupancy ratio thus reveals the optimum, under and over utilization o f transport services.
Based on the occupancy ratio, various routes have been identified to understand the inequalities
in the utilization o f transport service.
 97

TABLE-7.4
Optimum, Under and Over Utilization of
Transport Services

Over Utilization Under Utilization Ontimum Utilization

Route Origin- Occu Route Origin- Occup Route Origin- Occup

No. Destination pancy No. Destination ancy No. Destination ancy
Ratio Ratio Ratio
200 Mamnagar 402.3 I ll Lai Darwaja 33.57 34/4 Lai Darwaja 99 87
Mamnagar Kalapinagar Vejalpur
(Circular
Route)
300 Maiunagar- 387 2 39/2 Kalupur- 36.85 128 Maninagar 100.60
Manmaaar Narayan Naroda
(anti-circu­ Nagar
lar route)
46 Kalupur- 164.1 37/1 Kalupur- 40 32 51 Lai Darwaja 99.38
Kalupur Narayan Shilaj Gam
(Circular Nagar
Route)
400 Lai Darwaja- 157 6 68 Kalupur 42 05 49 Saranpur- 99 04
Lal Darwaja Terminus Ghuma
Mangalmurti Gam
Apartments
500 Lai Darwaja- 153.0 41 Lai Darwaja- 43.08 19 Sarangpur 99 04
Lal Darwaja Shilip Siddhi Vatva
Society.
150 Sarkhej 152.7 66/1 Kalupur 43 33 47/1 Kalupur- 99.01
Gam-Cbin- Terminus Kalupur
ubhainagar Vishram (Anti-Ciru
(Kathwada) nagar cular route)

35 Lai Darwaja- 44.31 83 Lai Darwaja 1012

Rang Sagar Ghatrod
Flats
23 Dam Limda- 46 70 22 Lai Darwaja 98.08
Lal Darwaja Lambha
Gam
64/2 Ghatlodia 47 79 56 MemkoTol- 97.98
Maninagar naka-Guj.
University
4/2 Dariyakhan 47.91 89/3 Kalupur 102 1
Ghununat Terminus-
Lai Darwaja Chandkeda
Gam
64/3 Lai Darwaja- 47.91 148 Sarangpur- 97.79
Pragatinagar Kathwada
Gam
122/1 Lai Darwaja- 47.91
Saijpur
129 Sarangpur 49.87
Knshxmagar
FIG. 7.3
 99

There are 13 routes with occupancy ratio less than 50 Among them Lai Darwaja-
Kalapinagar route shows lowest occupancy ratio (33.57) which is about one-third of the optimum
utilization On the contrary, route numbers 200 (Circular route) and 300 (anti-ciruclar route)
o f Maninagar node have about 4 times more occupancy ratio than the optium utilization of
services. (Fig. 7 3). The routes having higher occupancy ratio need better services in terms
of higher frequency and more number o f buses so as to increase the number of seats offered.
This is important as these routes cover longer distance including residential pockets and important
places of commercial, business and service activities.

Profit and Loss Making Routes

The total expenditure incurred by the AMTS per effective km is 1409,74 ps (1995-96).
As against this, the total revenue per effective km, is only 1212.32 p This reveals that the
AMTS is running at a loss o f 197 42 ps per effective km. However, the degree o f profit
and loss varies between various routes. Based on this, the study identifies the most profitable
and also the least profitable(incurring heavy losses) routes of Ahmedabad city Among the 159
routes mentioned, only 5 routes, namely route number 200(1547 ps), 116 (1502 Ps), 133 (1481
Ps), 300 (1456 Ps) and 77 (1426 Ps) are making profit (Table-7.5) The maximum loss making
routes are four in number, namely, route number 20(-520 Ps), route number lll(-557 Ps), route
number 39/2 (-571 ps.) and route number 149(-605 Ps). (Fig. 74) Their revenue per km is
less than half of the total revenue per effective km of the city (1212.32 Ps).

TABLE-7.5
Profit and Loss Making Bus Routes

Route Origin-Destination Total Revenue Profit/Loss in Ps

per effective per Km. (Total
km. (in Ps.) Expenditure per
Km. 1409.7 Ps)
200 Maninagar-Maninagar 1547 +138
(Circular route)
116 Civil Hospital - Dam Limda Gam 1502 +93
133 Lal-Darwaja - Lai Bahadur Shastri Stadium 1481 +72
300 Maninagar-Maninagar 1456 +47
(anti-circular route)
77 Vadaj Terminus - Hatkeshwar Depot 1426 +17
20 Maninagar - Meghaninagar 520 -889
111 Lai Darwaja - Kalapinagar 557 -852
39/2 Kalupar - Narayannagar 571 -828
149 Sarangpur - Vinzol Crossing 605 -804
While the margin o f profit ranges from 17 ps to 138 ps only per effective km, the losses
per effective km exceeds 800 ps
 MAJOR PROFIT AND LOSS MAKING ROUTES

I MAMNAGAR
2 CIVIL HOSPITAL
3 DAN1UMDAGAM
4 LALDARWAJA
5 L.B STADIUM
6 VADAJ
7 HATKESHWAR
8 MEGHANINAGAR
9 KALAPINAGAR
10 KALUPUR
11 NARAYANNAGAR
12 SARANGPUR
13 VINZOL CROSSING
A JAMALPUR
— PROFIT MAKING ROUTES B ACHER
— LOSS MAKING ROUTES C HATKESHWAR

FIG 7.4
Transport Infrastructure-Bus depots

The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service has three depots for maintenance and parking
buses during the night. These three depots are Acher, Jamalpur and Hatkeshwar. (Fig.7.4).
The total number of passenger buses depotwise is given in Table - 7,6

TABLE - 7.6
Capacity of Bus-Depots

Bus Depots Full time Part-time Spare Buses Total

buses buses

Acher 216 4 42 262

(32.23)

Jamalpur 259 33 43 335

(41.20)

Hatkeshwar 180 4 32 216

(26.57)

Total 655 41 117 813

(80.57) (5.04) (14.39) (100)

In terms o f capacity, Jamalpur bus depot has large space to accommodate i.e. 41 percent
of the total buses followed by Acher depot (32 percent) and Hatkeshwar depot (27 percent).
Out of the total 813 buses, 655 (81 percent) are parked full time, 5 per cent are parked part-
time and 14 per cent are spare buses. (Table.7.6)

Spatial Pattern of Destinations

In all, 148 destinations are connected to 30 transport nodes, out of which 4 are
very significant. The 4 transport nodes mentioned in Table-7,7 serve about 79 per cent of
the desinations of which Lai Darwaja node alone serve 42.56 per cent of the destinations.
This shows the prime nodality o f Lai Darwaja in the public transport system o f
Ahmedabad city.
 102

TABLE-7.7
Locational Pattern of Destinations

Transport Number of Destinations TOTAL

nodes/origin
points
Western Eastern

within Out side the Within Outside the

Mun.Iimit Mun. limit Mun. limit Mun. limit

Lai Darwaja 20 8 25 10 63
(42.57)
Kalupur 10 11 2 — 23
(15 54)
Sarangpur - 5 9 5 19
(12.83)
Manmagar 5 1 6 12
(8.11)
Others 12 1 15 3 31
(20 94)

Total 47 26 57 18 148
(31.76) (17.57) (38.51) (12.16) (100)

Out o f the total 148 destinations, 104 destinations are within the municipal limits (70.27
percent) and the remaining 44 destinations (about 30 percent), are located outside the municipal
limits covering mainly the outgrowths. (Table-7-7)

Suggestions

Based on the findings, the study makes certain suggestions for improving the existing
public transport service in Ahmedabad They are ■

1. The number o f buses in operation are less which is indicated by the increasing ratio of
per bus population. AMTS need to have more number of buses to serve the residents
better. Moreover, the average age o f the buses is increasing indicating the use o f over
age buses So replacement of over age buses is essential for efficient service delivery
(AMTS plans to have 1500 buses by 2001).
 103

2. AMTS need to reduce the dead km and increase the revenue km. by having more number
o f bus depots at different optimum locations. (AMTS plans to increase the number of
depots from 3 to 6 in the near future)

3 The bus routes with under-utilized capacity (in terms of occupancy ratio), such as Lai
Darwaja-Kalapinagar (33 57), Kalupur-Narayannagar (36 85), (Table-7 4), needs to be
either re-routed or extended to cover the newer residential concentrations.

4. In case o f routes with over utilization (Table-7 4) the frequency o f trips be increased
especially during the peak hours i.e 9 00 a.m to 12 noon and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m This
will enhance comfort and safety of the passengers

5 Providing new and direct links between the industrial outgrowths of Eastern Abmedabad
and the residential concentrations of the Western outgrowths o f Ahmedabad has become
necessary. This need of the urban residents can be met by using the newly built 132
feet circular road without passing through the densely built residential and commercial
core of Ahmedabad

Thus, the present section brings out the growth and development o f public transport
infrastructure in Ahmedabad city in terms o f number of buses, routes, trips, nodes, destinations,
along with the average distance o f a route, .average number o f passengers per bus per day
and income earned during 1995-96 The inadequacy o f transport service is seen when compared
to the growing population and area of Ahmedabad city The study also identifies routes based
on utilization, (optimum, over and under utilization in terms of occupancy ratio) and also on
the basis of profit and loss The remedial measures includes improvement of transport
infrastructure such as more number of buses, development of roads, additional depots, road
markings, traffic signals, increasing the frequency of trips during peak hours, extension or
re-routing o f certain under-utilized routes and linking the east west outgrowths through the
use o f circular routes.

Thus, the provision o f the AMTS service should be proportionate to the demand o f the
growing populatio'n, as a well-knit and coordinated system of transport plays an important role
in the sustained economic growth o f a city