Introduction

The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments brought an overhaul in public administration by empowering rural and urban local governance. These amendments resulted in creation of urban and rural local bodies. Also, twelfth schedule was added to the Indian constitution. The purpose of this schedule is to discuss powers, functions, and responsibilities of urban local bodies. The schedule mentions eighteen functions urban local bodies are entrusted with like urban planning, roads & bridges, provision of urban amenities, slum improvement, regulation of land use etc. However, we do not see specific mention of ‘urban transport’ in this schedule. 

In the domain of urban transport, there is no single institution accountable for it. At the same time, multiple institutions are involved in urban transport. Urban transport is handled by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs at the level of state. For the functioning of state transport department, Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways issues guidelines. Under this transport department, we find State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) like MSRTC in case of Maharashtra. Regional Transport Office (RTO) also works under state transport departments. For transport within any urban area, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Railways, and home ministry are involved. Urban Development Department (UDD) works under the Ministry of Urban Development. Regional Development Authority working under Urban Development Department is responsible for various aspects of urban transport like land use planning. There are also many mass transit operators. For example, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation in case of Maharashtra. Suburban rail operates under Ministry of Railways. Metro rail systems, Bus Rapid Transit System are under the Ministry of Urban Development. Traffic police are under authority of state police accountable to Ministry of Home Affairs (Infra Live, 2022). Similarly, rail-based systems are regulated by their own legislations under central government. But city administration has no control on such systems where they are deployed. 

At the city level, the transport authorities do not have sufficient administrative powers to coordinate various transport policies with all these bodies. Funding arrangements in urban transport infrastructure are also split between multiple agencies at local, state, and national level. This results in delays in transport infrastructure projects due to weak inter-agency coordination. National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 suggested statutory Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority for increasing coordination, planning mobility as well as for augmenting investments in transport. It is expected to coordinate between various urban transport agencies. UMTA will also manage the Urban Transport Fund. 

In case of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, home department constituted Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority in 2005. This resolution specifies that UMMTA will be provided with statutory framework soon. However, so far it has only been an advisory body in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. 

Lack of statutory status adversely affects the enforcement capacity of the institutions. They are devoid of financial independence. UMMTA can play a catalytic role in urban transport governance provided it is given statutory status which can enable it to work like a meta-coordinator. This research article attempts to look at a few projects to understand how working in silos has hampered growth of urban transport infrastructure in Mumbai metropolitan region. With the upcoming multimodal transport projects in Mumbai, it will also look at how such authority is essential to implement such projects in the region.

In this article, we study need of statutory UMTA in Mumbai metropolitan region for effective transport governance. Also, we analyse the importance of UMTA in upcoming multimodal transport projects in Mumbai metropolitan region. 

Review of the Urban Transport Projects in Mumbai Metropolitan Region

Mumbai metropolitan region is presently witnessing many transport infrastructure projects most of which have long gestation period. This includes Mumbai Trans Harbour link (MTHL), coastal road, new metro lines, Navi Mumbai international airport, Mumbai- Ahmedabad bullet train corridor etc. Long gestation period and delayed approvals often result in cost escalation of such projects. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Iqbal Singh Chahal recently talked about the need of unified city administration like major cities abroad to resolve diverse issues. He mentioned that there are more than thirteen urban transport agencies working in Mumbai and getting approvals from them for infrastructure projects is a time-consuming process (Express news service, 2023). He highlighted the need of a unified authority to simplify decision-making. We can study the need of such unified authority in urban transport by looking at some transport projects in Mumbai metropolitan region. 

Mumbai Trans Harbour Link:

Mumbai Trans Harbour link will establish connectivity between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The project will enhance connectivity between two regions especially given the upcoming airport in Navi Mumbai. Idea of this project was first conceived in 1962 in a study namely ‘Planning metro systems for Mumbai Metropolitan Region’ (Ozarkar, 2021). MTHL was to be undertaken in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with project cost of INR 60 billion in 2004. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was appointed as a main agency for this project by Maharashtra state government. After receiving environmental clearances in 2004, the bid by a private corporation was rejected in 2008 (Pethe et al, 2012). 

Thus, instead of PPP, government decided to opt for funding through Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. MSRDC works under Public Works Department which was controlled by Nationalist Congress Party by then. MMRDA is a para-statal agency. This agency works under Urban Development Department. By then, Congress Chief Minister headed this department. 

In 2010, tussle between MSRDC and MMRDA on complete control of the project resulted in shifting the project to the latter agency. This could be traced to their internal political rivalry. In 2011, MMRDA undertook the project by when its cost escalated to INR 80 billion (Pethe et al, 2012). Such transport project requires clearances from various authorities. In the case of MTHL, MMRDA had to take approvals from various agencies like National Green Tribunal, State wildlife board, City Industrial and Development Corporation, Mumbai Port Trust, Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, National Highway Authority of India, Forest advisory committee etc. The cost of the project was further escalated due to delays caused by Covid-19 lockdown and design changes. In 2021, the cost of the MTHL was pegged at INR 17,843 crore with cost escalation claims of 5 to 15 per cent. As per the latest figures, the estimated cost is INR 20000 crores.

Virar-Alibaug Multimodal Corridor

Another project that can be cited is ‘Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor project.’ MMRDA was handling the project when it was first visualized in 2008. It was handed over to MSRDC in August 2020. It is important to see the course of action which resulted in such shift after a long decade. Recently in 2021, MCZMA cleared one 18-km section of the project from Chirner to Balavali. There is one more section of eighty kilometres. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority will screen this section. Since 2017, Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority is occupied in undertaking hearing of this section. This section is supposed to affect fishermen activities, mangroves, and mudflats. In 2022 in the month of September, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation looked into forest clearance for another section from Naghar to Chirner. The land acquisition cost of this project was INR 2,215 crore in 2012. It has increased to INR 15,617 crore in 2018. It has further escalated to INR 21,000 in 2022. The total project cost has also escalated. It was INR 12,554 crore in 2012. It has become INR 55,564 crore in 2022. In Figure 1, we have shown the cost escalation of these two transport projects.

This multi-modal corridor consisting of tunnels, bridges, overpass, underpass, BRT, metro has potential to connect NH17, NH4B, Sewree Nhava Trans harbour link and Mumbai-Pune expressway. It will benefit seven growth centres in Mumbai Metropolitan Region such as Virar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli, Panvel, Taloja and Uran. 

This corridor is near to Navi Mumbai International Airport as well as it is closer to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. Thus, we can optimize transport multimodality of this project. However, clearances from multiple agencies in any urban transport projects is a time-consuming process as we do not have one common forum where all agencies can meet to speed up such approvals.

Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor

The significance of UMTA is paramount for multimodal transport projects in Mumbai. One such multi-modal project is Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor integrating metro with suburban railway. Mumbai Metro One Private Limited received the contract of development of this corridor in 2007. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority was the nodal authority for this corridor. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority was expected to make 59 per cent of land available to Mumbai Metro One Private Limited. However, it could hardly hand over 45% in 2008 when construction started (HT correspondent, 2014). Removal of encroachments, poor records of underground utilities, lags in safety certification due to delay in No Objection Certificate from fire department resulted in delays. Such multimodal hubs require consistent coordination between transport authorities involved.

Urban transport often sees an institutional gap or an overlap in such projects. This is evident from recent Bombay High court (November 2023) judgement wherein they discussed the need of unified authority to repair roads on the background of conflict in jurisdictions of Bombay Municipal Corporation & Public Works Department (PWD) in road management. Thus, to ensure institutional accountability in multimodal projects, statutory UMTA is necessary.

Bus Rapid Transit System on Western Express Highway

Transport experts suggested Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for major linear corridors in Mumbai like Western & Eastern Express Highway. BRTS corridors divided into WEH & link road have capacity to carry 90,000 pph (Badami, 2005). However, the implementation of such corridor on WEH & EEH has been deadlocked due to problems with inter-agency coordination. Additional Chief (UMMTA of MMRDA) K. Vijayalakshmi also discussed some of these challenges in detail at a November 2011 public meeting. She said, “MMRDA had completed the Detailed Engineering Report, but as the BRTS is under the jurisdiction of MSRDC, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST) and BMC, MMRDA is unable to work on it.” In 2010, MMRDA transferred this project to MCGM and asked BEST to manage the project as it looks after bus management as mentioned by R. Ramanna (Additional chief, Transport & communication, MMRDA) in a public meeting.

UMTA can fill the gap of institutional accountability. With upcoming multimodal projects like Wadala Multimodal Hub, which will integrate Wadala monorail station, metro station (Line 4), Wadala road railway station and an inter-city bus terminal, we must focus on effective coordination of multiple transport authorities. A statutory UMTA has potential to fasten the decision making resulting in de-escalation of costs and faster implementation. 

It is important to note that we do have undertaken measures to constitute such transport authorities in India. In 2016, Ministry of Urban Development brought an operations document and a ‘Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority bill, 2016’. In 2017, Metro Rail Policy specified that cities which are planning metro rail systems must establish statutory Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority. Comprehensive Transport Study II discusses UMTA in detail. It says that Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority will coordinate policies of urban transport and infrastructure. Also, it will look at modal priorities. Similarly, it will handle coordination of operations and allocation of finances. This authority can potentially coordinate quick decision making through inter agency coordination as it will include representatives from departments like urban development, planning, finance, transport, environment, railway, regional development as well as from planning authorities, urban local bodies, road development & transport corporations, state police and airport authorities etc.

Status of unified transport authorities in India and abroad

So far, UMTA has been constituted only in Agra, Kanpur, Bengaluru, Kochi, Lucknow, Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 2022). Efforts were made to establish similar authority in NCT of Delhi which is known as ‘Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Planning & Engineering Centre’. Delhi Development Authority was at the forefront in establishment of this agency in 2008. It has been quite successful due to high levels of project approval and implementation. Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi also took steps to establish ‘Delhi Urban Mass Transit Authority’ (DUMTA) in 2010. UMTA has also been established in Chennai, Mysuru, Kohima and Imphal. Status of all such unified authorities is discussed in Table 1. 

In case of Mumbai metropolitan region, UMMTA was set in 2008 through an executive order. UMMTA committee met in 2011 to endorse core committee recommendations and undertook some initiatives like conducting Detailed Project Reports, identifying sources of infrastructure fund, creating transport divisions in urban local bodies etc. MMRDA drafted bill for statutory UMMTA in 2011. So far, it continues to be an advisory body in MMRDA. In 2018, Ashok Datar, transport expert and a member of UMMTA mentioned that the body had not met in last six months. 

Sixth meeting of the Main committee of UMMTA was conducted in 2019 (Infra Live, 2021). However, there are no concrete attempts yet made to put this law into effect. This apathy is a lost opportunity to make governance citizen centric.

Table 1: Status of unified transport authorities in India.

Odisha: Bhubaneswar & Puri

O.P. Aggarwal discussed a few initiatives of UMTA in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority constituted the UMTA in 2008. It undertook initiatives like introduction of Intelligent Transport System, Special Purpose Vehicle for Bus Rapid Transit System, introduction of Combi-Tickets (single ticketing) etc. However, the absence of continuum in its meetings is reflected in the fact that it has met only eleven times in nine years. This is a major factor contributing to hibernation of such bodies. In Bengaluru, statutory UMTA was constituted via an Executive Order in 2007 which is known as ‘Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority.’ Recently in 2022, Karnataka legislative assembly has brought BMLTA bill through which it aims to ensure seamless mobility. It is yet to be seen if this authority when works in its statutory capacity can fix city’s mobility issues and can bring an overhaul in urban transport. 

At the global level, Transport for London (TfL), London and Land Transport Authority (LTA), Singapore are unified transport authorities working under a statute. They receive substantial grants from the government. This ability to allocate funds is secured through the legal status. ‘Transport for London’ (unified authority for transport in London) through its six-pillar modal integration (physical, fare, information, network, geographical, institutional) brought initiatives like ‘oyster card,’ ‘journey planner’ website. Such integration resulted in traffic reduction by over 20 per cent & bus usage increased by over 40 per cent. Similarly, due to integrated transit in Hong Kong (‘journey planner’ mobile app and ‘octopus card’) undertaken by its ‘Transport department’ (unified transport authority), 90 per cent of daily trips are now using public transport making it the highest in the world. In Singapore, due to ‘single fare card’ implemented by ‘Land Transport authority,’ 63 per cent modal share is in favour of public transport (Ministry of Urban Development, 2016). In Vancouver, fuel tax as well as parking site tax is usually the domain of provincial governments. However, its transport authority namely TransLink has persuaded provincial government to allow it to use these resources. 

This results in financial augmentation of such unified bodies. In Lagos, the transport authority known as Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) has been able to promote 13-meter-long buses due to which travel became faster, affordable, and comfortable (Aggarwal O.P et al, 2013). The contribution of such unified authorities in making transport governance better can be traced to the robust legislative framework through which they function.

Unified transport authority and its challenges

Many of the UMTAs in India did not gain momentum with the change in the political leadership. Often local governments failed to understand differences between various transport project committees and authority of UMTA. The State-of-the-Art Report (2014) says that Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities are working like committees who need other agencies for project implementation highlighting that they are not empowered bodies (Ravees, 2018). Due to this, most of these UMTA have not undertaken any significant initiatives. As being advisory in nature, effectiveness of such bodies depends on how often they meet, interest of the officials to participate in the meetings. On an average the time gap of UMTA meetings across the country has been of eight to twelve months. In states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, hardly one or two meetings have taken place. Often, through delegating responsibilities to other officials and delays in periodical meetings result into reduction in effectiveness of such committees (Aggarwal et al, 2013). 

So far, neither there is any uniformity in transport authorities across states nor one single statute which would encompass through all provisions of urban transport. This raises a need of a statutory authority with defined role & jurisdiction governed by a law which is comprehensive enough to cover all such provisions (Gupta, 2013). The urban transport act or UMTA bill is a step to provide legislative framework to such body. Legislative act is essential for providing greater leverage to coordinate functions effectively. Such body can have more autonomy in administration and there is ease of raising capital. When any institution is financially independent, it can undertake effective resource allocation among various urban transport bodies. To undertake various operations, to invest in infrastructure projects, it is particularly important to have financial stability. When such a unified authority is supposed to use public sector funds, it must have legal mandate to do so which comes through a statute. This helps them in securing compliance with its plans. 

However, along with statutory status, it is important that there is no conflict of interest within the heads of various institutions when they form a part of UMTA. There is a fear among such heads of losing their monopoly to an administrative head which is usually Chief Secretary in case of UMTA in India. Thus, head of this institution and their function and capacity is pivotal for the growth of this authority. 

In case of Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA), the initiative of a statutory authority has not gained much success. KMTA was headed by transport minister who was not based in the city which might have had repercussions on understanding of the specific transport requirements of the city (Prabhakaran, 2023). KMTA should have ideally comprised of SPV agencies, local bodies and city transport experts who did not form a part of it. Thus, composition of UMTA is a backbone for its performance.

Urban transport infrastructure and service is a public good. To deliver the public good, it is essential to have a supportive environment. The transport department fears that the UMTA will downscale their powers. 

For example, transport department presently undertakes bus route rationalisations (Phillip, 2019). With UMTA, it fears that such power can also be snatched away. Therefore, such a unified statutory authority should receive support from personnel manning various transport agencies which includes political leaders and government officials in order to bring overhaul in system and implement much awaited policies like single ticketing in urban transport.

Summary and Conclusions

Cities cannot undertake efficient comprehensive mobility planning functionally, spatially, sectorall, and hierarchically with fragmented governance structures of urban transport. For better transport governance, institutions must come together to find solutions. If we look at the examples of London and Singapore, we can infer that such transport authorities have taken some time to stabilise. Only enacting a law or issuing an order is not an end. Structural evolution with flexibility to change is the key. 

Our focus should be to make public transportation more accessible, affordable, and convenient. With convenience, public transport should be able to attract rich as well. Enrique Penalosa, ex-Mayor of Bogota, rightly mentions that “a developed country is not identified by poor having cars but by rich using public transportation.” For such transport service delivery, lead institution like UMTA have potential to revolutionise multimodal transport. Such authorities do have some common structure and encompass through many functions, modes, jurisdictions in an urban area. They might have a few variations due to divergent political dispositions which exist across country (Girje et al, 2020). The performance and potential of UMTA should be seen as evolutionary process. UMTAs should not be just looked at as a prerequisite to access funding under JNNRUM but as an institutional reform needed for effective transport governance. In this process, key performance indicators of UMTA must be put in front to gauge its success and failures over a specific time period. 

Governance is efficient when there is least wastage of resources, time, money, and effort. Effective governance is the one which is successful in achieving desired outcomes that is development and welfare. For transport governance to be effective and efficient, it must provide the transport services that are convenient and affordable. This can be achieved through multimodal integration to provide seamless end to end connectivity. This dynamic reform is essential for good governance. This requires dynamic institution to enhance administrative effectiveness which depends on how we strategize to promote citizen centric governance. With statutory powers to do so, transformative organization like UMTA can lead to better transport governance in urban areas.

References

1. Adimulam, S. (2023, January 3). Land acquisition cost for Alibaug to Virar multi-modal corridor shoots to Rs. 21,000 cr, total project cost also spirals over four-fold. The Indian Express. 

2. Aggarwal, O.P. (2009) UMTA initiatives in India. Global Transport Knowledge Practice. 

3. Aggarwal, O.P., Kumar, A. (2013). Institutional labyrinth: Designing a way out for improving urban transport services: lessons from current practice. The World Bank Group. 

4. Asian institute of transport development. (2013). India transport report: Moving India to 2032. National Transport Development Policy Committee. Volume II, Part I, Chapter 6. p. 473

5. Badami, S. (2005, October). Case for a Bus Rapid Transit System in Mumbai. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol.40, No.41, pp. 4409-4412.

6. Express news service. (2023, October 11). Need unified city admin to resolve city’s issues: BMC Commissioner. The Indian Express. 

7. Express News Service. (2023, November 9). No ‘unified’ body to repair roads, address complaints on potholes ‘area of concern’: Bombay High Court. The Indian Express. 

8. Gijre, V., Gupta, S. (2020). Urban Transport Governance Practice and Challenges in an Emerging Economy –Case Study of India. Transportation Research Procedia. 48. 2435-2445. 10.1016/j.trpro.2020.08.293.

9. Gupta, S. (2013). Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) of different states in India. CPPR-Centre for Urban Studies working paper series. 

10. HT correspondent. (2014, June 8). Mumbai metro: 10 deadlines missed, what caused delay? Hindustan times. 

11. Lea Associates. (2021). Comprehensive Transport Study for Mumbai Metropolitan Region. 

12. Menon, R. (2010, April 15). Mumbai BRTS: Held up in transit. Down to earth.

13. Ministry of housing and urban affairs. (2016). Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority UMTA and Urban Transport Fund UTF Documents. 

14. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2022). Action Taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the 13th Report (17th Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs on the subject, ‘Implementation of Metro Rail Projects – An Appraisal’. Lok Sabha Secretariat.

15. Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India. (2016) Citywide multimodal integrated transport plan. 

16. Naik, Y. (2021, June 22). Mumbai: Green nod to section of Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor project. The Indian Express. 

17. Ozarkar, V. (2021, October 11). Bridging the bay. The Indian Express

18. Pethe, A., Tandel, V., Gandhi, S. (2012). Understanding Issues Related to Polycentric Governance in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Public finance and management. Vol.12, No.3, 182-203.

19. Phadke, M. (2021, September 30). Mumbai’s Rs. 14,262 crore trans-harbour link may get mor expensive over design changes, delays. The print. 

20. Philip, C.M. (2019, May 5). Transport Department putting brakes on formation of UMTA? The Times of India. 

21. Prabhakaran, A. (2023, November 3). First outing fails, revamp on cards for KMTA. The New Indian Express. 

22. PRS. (2022). The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Bill, 2022.

23. Ravees, S. (2018, March 2). Successes and failures of UMTAs in India: How Kochi can perfect integration of public transport. 

24. Rawal, S. (2018, May 15). Mumbai infra: It’s time to end long queues, it’s time for one city, one ticket. Hindustan times. 

25. Shah, V. (2023, October 27). MTHL becomes a beacon of comprehensive growth and development in Mumbai. Urban Transport News. 

26. Thakkar, M. (2015, December 5). Wildlife board approves trans harbour link. Asian age. 

27. The Metro Rail Guy (2023, June 19). Virar- Alibaug multimodal corridor: Information and status.

28. Urban Mobility India. Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority-Kochi. 

29. Verma, A., Harsha, V., Subramanian, G. (2021). Evolution of urban transportation policies in India: A review and analysis. Transportation in developing economies. 7(2):25.