Economic Benefits of Increased Walkability in Bangalore, India

MEMORANDUM To: The Minister of Urban Development, Karnataka, India From: Prahallad Badami, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Subject: Economic benefits of increased walkability in the city of Bangalore, India Date: December 11, 2018

Introduction

The objective of this memorandum is to convey the reasons for increasing the walkability in Bangalore (located in the state of Karnataka in southern India) and the economic benefits that will be derived from it. Consequently, this would come be realized with the increase of funding allocation for Non-motorized Transport (NMT), significantly more than the 0.6 percent of the total investment of nearly $12 billion allocated for the Traffic and Transportation Budget. As elaborated in Arup’s report “Cities Alive: Towards a Walking World,” a walkable city offers a host of benefits of which significant are the social, environmental, economic and political. The economic benefits derived might be up to the range of 65 percent as pedestrians tend to spend more than drivers. Moreover, it has been estimated that walking and cycling provide up to $11.80 return for every $1 invested. 1 Additionally, this approach helps to reduce car congestion and pollution leading to healthier and safer citizens.

Methods There are many metropolitan cities around the globe that are taking steps to encourage more walking. For example, the High Line in New York City and the Goods Line in Sydney, Australia, connects multiple neighborhoods and helps keep the traffic separate from pedestrians. Rastogi (2009) analyzed the benefits of NMT compared to motorized modes as “more traffic handling capacity, less space requirement, less cost of infrastructure and material equipment along with low energy consumption, environment emission and social cost; reduced congestion and operational cost, travel time cost, health cost and accident cost.” Flusche (2009) estimated that an amount of $133 billion a year was contributed to the US economy by the bicycling industry. 2 Saelensminde (2004) deduced that new bicycle and walking tracks would attract 15 percent of the traveling undertaken by car or public transport. 3 Pedestrianization of districts increases pedestrian flow and retail sale (Table). It also leads to increase in rental price and occupancy and reduces noise and air pollution, in turn providing 1

(ARUP, 2016) (T.M. Rahul, 2012) 3 (T.M. Rahul, 2012) 2

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economic benefit by taking away the component of economic burden caused by pollution.

Table 1: Increase in pedestrian flow and retail sale in traffic free zones 4

Figure 1: Estimated External Costs of Automobile Travel and Walking 5

The New York City Department of Transportation assesses economic vitality from number of visitors, sales tax receipts and other indicators to evaluate street redesigns or street functional changes. A similar approach can be adopted in Bangalore to determine the impact of change as and when they are made. As noted by Litman (2018), bike paths established on 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan increased local business retail sales by about 40% and expanding walking facilities at the Union Square reduced commercial vacancies by 49%. Coupling walking with adequate transit facilities will yield better revenue as has been the case in Downtown San Francisco where the trips by walk exceed that by motorized transport with more cumulative spending (Figure 2).

The narrative is in tandem with the one offered by ARUP (2016) which makes the following observations in its report.

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Li and Phyllis, 1983 (Litman, 2018)

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Pedestrians spend 65% more than drivers. 6 Increase in employment due to more walkability.

300% more visitors in Trafalgar Square after transformation of the pedestrian environment.

A point increase in Walkscore increase US house prices by $700-$3,000.

Cost Benefit Analysis: 13:1

Figure 2: Average Frequency of Recreational Trips to Downtown San Francisco 7

Issue Analysis Steps need to be taken to mitigate the strain caused by the exponential growth rates of 3.01 from the decade of 2001 and 3.91 from the decade of 2011. 8 The city of Bangalore has a Walkability Index of 0.6 9 with paved and unpaved sidewalks (footpaths) share as shown in Table 2. On an average, 20 percent of the streets do not have any sidewalks present at all. Furthermore, number of trips made by NMT mode contribute to 10.55 percent in Bangalore wherein the average trip length of bicycle is 2.4 mi. and that of walking is 0.63 mi. This is despite the Slow Moving Vehicle Index (Figure 3) for Bangalore being at 0.02 and accidents involving NMT traffic is around 49 percent. 10

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Transport for London (Elizabeth Bent, 2008) 8 (Limited) 9 Ministry of Urban Development, 2008 10 (T.M. Rahul, 2012) 7

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Figure 3: Slow moving vehicle index 11

Table 2: Walkability in Bangalore 12

Table 3: Walking mode share declines in Asian Cities 13

As is evident from the Table 3 above, the percentage of people opting to walk or relying on walking/bicycling has dropped drastically during the last three decades. Change in people’s behavior towards the usage of NMT, increasing prosperity and the lack of efficient public transport and pedestrian facilities can be attributed as reasons for the 11

Ministry of Urban Development (Limited) 13 (Leather, Fabian, Goat and Mejia, 2011, page 4) 12

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drop. At the same time, Bangalore’s population has been growing at 3.25 percent a year in the previous decade. 14

Proposed Solutions According to Riplogle (1991), Asian cities need to adopt NMT inclusive development to cease diminishing environmental and economic benefits due to rapid motorization.

Walking infrastructure should be provided where not existent and upgraded where required as the modal split in favor of public transport in Bangalore is about 46 percent and reducing, exclusive of walk trips. This would arrest the trend of disturbingly high increase in the share of two wheelers and cars.

Deriving from the Netherlands, awareness programs that emphasize the importance of walking and bicycling as sustainable and environmentally friendly mode of transport need to be promoted to bring in a change in the mindset of the people.

A mode shift of even 1% of trips with distances traveled below 3.1 mi. can bring in a saving of $3,448 per day.

Benefit Vehicle Costs (fuel saving) Air pollution costs Congestion costs Accident costs Table 4: Total Savings estimated 15

Cost ($/0.6mi.)

0.06 0.15 Total Savings

Total ($) 1037.16 3.95 2378.24 28.68 3448

Limitations While it is argued that the 49 percent figure is in regard to motorized accidents, it can well be that increase in NMT may cause more accidents between walkers and cyclists with vehicles. Furthermore, the solutions proposed, and the figures quoted are under scenarios wherein all safety standards have been followed.

Bibliography ARUP. (2016). Cities Alive: Towards a Walking World.

Ebru Cubukcu, B. H. (2014). Active Living For Sustainable Future: A model to measure "walk scores" via Geographical Information Systems. Procedia - Social and Behaviorial Sciences, 229-237.

Elizabeth Bent, K. S. (2008). Modal Choices and Spending Patterns of Travelers to Downtown San Francisco: Impacts of Congestion Pricing on Retail Trade.

Limited, U. M. (n.d.). Bangalore Mobility Indicators 2010-11.

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Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Plan for Bangalore 2007 (T.M. Rahul, 2012)

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Litman, T. (2018). Economic Value of Walkability. Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

Marino, S. (2017, September 19).

Retrieved from http://www.landdesign.com/a-walkable-city-is-a-better-city/

LandDesign:

T.M. Rahul, A. V. (2012). Research in Transportation Economics. Elsevier.

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