Page 86 - Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

1 Introduction

1.1 Background
Founded in 1411 AD as a walled city on the banks of the river Sabarmati, the city of Ahmedabad is now the
th
seventh largest metropolis in India. The textile industry revolution in the 19 century brought a lot of
th
prosperity to the city, and in the 20 century marquee education institutions such as Indian Institute of
Management, National Institute of Design, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology brought in the
st
knowledge capital to propel the city to greater heights in the 21 century. The city attracted modern masters
of architecture such as Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, who gave the city a unique identity. The entrepreneurial
nature of the locals coupled with able leadership has made the city an economic powerhouse, with the city
contributing about 14% of the total investments in all stock exchanges in India and 60% of the total
productivity of the state. Foreign and domestic investment in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textiles,
automobiles and information technology have been driving the engine of growth in the last decade, which is
reflected in Forbes’ world raking of #3 for fastest growing cities of the decade. The development of the city
and the influx of people have only accelerated over the last three decades, with the decadal population
growth rising from 29% (in 1981) to 40% (in 2011), and the metropolis accommodating over 6.3 million
people.

1.2 Challenge and response

The growing population in the city of Ahmedabad along with a relatively (compared to other Indian cities)
sparsely populated urban core has resulted in rapid urban sprawl. The administration, taking cognizance of
the issue, has developed multiple ring roads to enhance connectivity and regulate traffic. The city was among
the first in India to adopt a bus rapid transit system (BRTS) and has thus far implemented a BRTS corridor of
130 km, which boasts of daily ridership of 0.12 million passengers and a fleet of 235 buses. The city bus
network, which serves as a feeder system for the BRTS, has a network on over 700 km. This huge network of
transit system was managed by discrete IT systems which were nearing end of life, and were not well
equipped to address the challenges of operating a large fleet of buses to ensure operational efficiency.
Moreover, the fare collection systems across modes of transit lacked integration, resulting in revenue
leakages. The net result of revenue leakages and sub-optimal operations were: operating losses for the
entities running the city bus network, lack of predictability of bus journeys, scarce availability of real-time
data to plan for journeys, and a lack of integration with informal public transit (shared cabs and auto-
rickshaws) resulting in reduced ridership emanating from a lack of last mile connectivity.

The city administrators recognized the challenges faced by citizens and operating companies responsible for
public transit and constituted a “Smart Mobility” project to modernize the transit operations and provide the
means for seamless fare payments. An integrated transit management system (ITMS) was envisaged to
enable the gathering of transit data and intelligence in order to provide timely feedback to traffic managers
and commuters. The ITMS system was built for real-time monitoring of the fleet of public transport buses
and hence enhance commuter satisfaction, reliability and punctuality of bus operations. An automated fare
collection system (AFCS) aimed to automate its fare collection mechanism and remove leakages and ease
operations. Further fare collection mechanisms (AFCS) of the transport ecosystem are envisaged to be
integrated with an open loop common card payment system (CCPS) to enable cashless transactions. A single
open loop card is proposed for mobility systems, municipal services, and any other government transactions
within the city. Further, open loop cards can be used across any store or seller within the city that has a point
of sale terminal accepting cards. Administrators further acknowledged the need for IT connectivity to
enhance physical connectivity across the city, and weaved in a programme to lay fibre optic cables along the
BRTS corridor to develop a digital highway which will be leveraged by ITMS, AFCS and CCPS systems. This
project is directed to achieving SDG 9 .
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43 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

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