> HONORABLE MENTIONS
> Mumbai City or just Density?
> City: Mumbai
> Issue: Public Transport
Team Members:
Priyanka Itadkar
Falguni Bhatia
Mumbai’s local transportation gives a whole new meaning to the concept of overcrowding. Mumbai roads are shockingly congested and poorly maintained. In addition, the majority of residents don’t own a car. As a result, the train is the most popular and quickest way of commuting in Mumbai. Of the millions travelling in this high density area each day, close to 4,000 deaths per annum result from roadway fatalities and from falling off the trains. Henceforth Mumbai has become one of the most unliveable cities.
The future is in need for a more flexible and collaborative public transport solution and form a meandering, break-free chain for the citizens. This can dissolve the divide between private and public transportation.
The design can work as a single module–basically a car but can also become a train, market or socially distanced gathering spot to sustain further pandemics when demand calls for it. The adjustable nature of the modules may help get people closer to their exact destination as opposed to a train or bus station that often lets them off a few blocks away forcing the traveller to catch a rickshaw or taxi. The modules can connect and communicate with each other — allowing for several to be combined into a single unit with maximum space efficiency — which could play a role in reducing traffic congestion and reduces the density of vehicles on the roadways. Thus eventually these modules can largely replace most existing public transport services, and the vast majority of privately-owned cars.
Due to elimination of switching between modes of transport to reach the destination the module will minimise overall travel times or even maximise activities like shopping or sightseeing opportunities, according to their preferences. Along with a well-designed digital system with fully integrated timetabling, ticketing and information systems for the user. This self-driven and electrically charged module will create a more sustainable energy efficient and a better user experience for human mobility in the future.
