How can India Foster Sustainable Urban Transport Planning?

ISSUE BRIEF

Strengthening India's Urban Transport Governance Through a State Unified Transport Authority

25 October, 2024 | Sustainable Mobility

Sunaina Chauhan, Sourav Dhar, and Himani Jain

Suggested Citation: Chauhan, Sunaina, Sourav Dhar, and Himani Jain. 2024. Strengthening India's Urban Transport Governance Through a State Unified Transport Authority. New Delhi: Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

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Overview

India's urban population is projected to almost double by 2050, emphasising the need for prioritised investment in urban transport and state-level policy alignment to meet Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets and achieve net-zero goal. Urban transport, managed by multiple departments under the purview of state government, faces various functional gaps and overlaps, making planning and execution cumbersome. While cities with limited technical capacity are often guided by the central government through national-level policies and programmes, project implementation is approved and funded at the state level. This necessitates coordination among central, state, and city agencies.

The study recommends a state-level nodal agency - State Unified Transport Authority (SUTA) - for policy formulation, finance administration, departmental coordination, research and development, and providing implementation guidelines. The study is based on a global literature review and best-case studies, exploring their institutional evolution to analyse their functions and legal powers. Additionally, several government officials, members of academia, and subject experts in India are consulted to gain insights into the governance gap.

Key Findings

In the absence of a state agency facilitating the setting up of the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) and providing necessary resources, very few cities have set up such authorities.
Integrating transport planning across the state requires robust horizontal coordination amongst departments and agencies; while ensuring vertical integration across central, state, and local government programmes and projects.
- To facilitate horizontal coordination, SUTA's governing council comprising representatives from various central, state, and city departments, will ensure interdepartmental coordination at the state level. The executive council of the UMTA, with representation from city and regional departments, will ensure coordination at the city level.
- To ensure vertical integration, the SUTA’s organisational structure consolidates multiple UMTAs under SUTA’s authority, with each UMTA having representation on SUTA’s governing council.
SUTA should be established through state legislation to give legal powers to exercise its functions.
SUTA should be financially strengthened with a dedicated State Urban Transport Fund (SUTF).

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Sunaina Chauhan

Research Analyst

[email protected]

"Urban transport planning requires a collaborative and comprehensive approach to plan for integrated transport systems. A State Unified Transport Authority can play a crucial role in this process by shaping policy decisions and fostering essential interdepartmental coordination. As a legally empowered nodal agency, SUTA can influence decision-making, manage funds, and ensure comprehensive infrastructure planning, thereby driving systematic improvements in urban transport governance across India."

Executive summary

India’s urban population is expected to nearly double from 461 million in 2018 to 877 million by 2050, according to UN estimates. Urban transport is one of the key drivers of the economy, so it is important that these growing cities prioritise investment and targeted policies. Policy alignment at the state level is essential to meet Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets and achieve the net zero vision.

Cities have limited technical capacity to plan for integrated clean transport. Thus, the central government often nudges municipal institutions through national-level policies, programmes, and guidelines. Project implementation happens in cities with approval and funding support from the state level. Hence, there is a need for coordination between the central, state, and city agencies to ensure effective execution at scale.

According to the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, urban transport falls under the state governments’ purview. Its functions are distributed among the Urban Development Department, Transport Department, Public Works Department, Traffic Police, etc., making coordination cumbersome. Overlapping jurisdictions make urban transport services and infrastructure planning challenging. These overlaps, along with resource constraints, often result in siloed departments and additional complexity in the sector (Gijre and Gupta 2020).

A state-level coordinating and regulatory body is crucial for establishing a unified vision for urban transport planning. This state nodal agency will play a pivotal role in fostering consensus among departments on key areas such as multimodal integration, clean vehicle strategies, revenue generation, and tariff monitoring.

This study proposes a State Unified Transport Authority (SUTA) to strengthen the institutional structure and promote an inclusive, integrated urban transport system, and effectively alleviate negative externalities like congestion and air pollution.

The study, conducted under the USAID-supported Cleaner Air and Better Health (CABH) project that aims to mitigate and reduce exposure to air pollution, is based on a global literature review and best-case studies of various transport agencies, exploring their institutional evolution to analyse their functional and legal powers. Additionally, several government officials, members of academia, and subject experts in India, have been consulted to get insights on governance gaps.

Key findings

Need for a dedicated urban transport institution at the state level: Only a few states have established state-level nodal agencies for urban transport through executive orders. However, these existing agencies need more institutional power to direct other departments and substantial budgetary controls to drive urban transport initiatives.
Implementation gaps in Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTAs): In India, the guidelines for establishing UMTAs served as an initial step for interdepartmental coordination among city agencies and urban local bodies (ULBs). In the absence of a lead agency facilitating the setting up of UMTAs and providing necessary resources, very few cities have set up such authorities. Hence, most of them function as coordinating agencies, lacking the necessary technical expertise and financial resources to carry out their responsibilities effectively.
Institutional strengthening for integrated planning: Robust horizontal coordination while ensuring vertical integration across central, state, and local governments is crucial for integrated transport planning (as explained in Figure ES1). Global best practices, such as the transport authorities in London, Singapore and Lagos, demonstrate institutional evolution to oversee a unified vision and approach to transportation planning.

Key recommendations

The study recommends a state level nodal agency - SUTA, to strengthen the existing transport governance framework—organisationally, financially, and legally. SUTA will help in adopting policy driven, robust governance in urban transport planning. Strengthening state-level urban transport governance will ensure contextual research and development, robust infrastructure project planning and budget management. The study recommends five key functions for SUTA - policy formulation, finance administration, departmental coordination, research, and providing implementation guidelines.

Figure ES1 Horizontal coordination among different departments and vertical integration across different government levels for robust transport governance

strengthening-indias-urban-transport

Source: Authors’ analysis

Figure ES2 UMTAs under SUTA to ensure vertical integration and coordinating bodies - governing council (state level), executive council (city level) to ensure horizontal coordination

strengthening-indias-urban-transport

Source: Authors’ analysis

Four key requisites for the SUTA framework:

Provide legal powers to SUTA to exercise functions: It is necessary for state legislation to establish the SUTA as a statutory body for it to exercise its functions and direct other departments. The SUTA can ideally be placed under the Urban Development Department or, as deemed fit, under the state’s current institutional structure. This would ensure the SUTA’s supremacy in decision-making and enhanced governance.
Equip SUTA with a dedicated State Urban Transport Fund (SUTF): The state shall allocate seed capital and operating expenses to establish the authority. The city urban transport budget allocations, project approvals, and monitoring shall rest with SUTA.
Establish UMTAs under SUTA to enhance vertical integration: The study proposes a framework in which all UMTAs in the state shall be formulated under SUTA and report to it. This shall bridge the gap between state-level policies and city level implementation.
Establish coordinating bodies to improve horizontal coordination among departments: The governing council at SUTA, comprising of representatives from various central, state, and city departments, will ensure interdepartmental coordination at the state level. The study recommends an executive council of the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), with representation from city and regional departments, to act as a coordinating body at the city level. The proposed structure consolidates multiple UMTAs under SUTA’s authority, with each UMTA having representation on SUTA’s governing council (as illustrated in ES 2).
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) can spearhead this transformation of the institutions by introducing guidelines that advocate for establishing SUTA, along with the necessary institutional, organisational, financial, and legal structures.

FAQ's

How is the SUTA framework different from the UMTA recommendations made earlier?

The proposed framework recommends SUTA as a state-level agency with UMTAs (for million-plus cities) to be formed under it. The proposed structure will ensure vertical integration among national, state, and city authorities and bridge the policy and implementation gap. The proposed coordinating bodies—the governing council (state-level) and the executive council (city-level)—shall ensure coordination among departments.
Why is SUTA recommended through state legislature?

SUTA is to be formed through the state legislature, detailing the powers, responsibilities, jurisdiction, and organisational structure of the authority. This ensures the body has the requisite power to direct and lead the coordination with other departments. This is particularly important for SUTA, as it is required to operate with multiple incumbent departments, each having its own powers and functions.
Why should SUTA be equipped with a State Urban Transport Fund (SUTF) to strengthen urban transport governance?

SUTA should be equipped with a SUTF because the development of urban transport infrastructure demands substantial investments. As a state-level policy-making body, SUTA can effectively manage these funds in alignment with strategic goals. Moreover, the SUTF needs to be enhanced through additional revenue streams such as petrol cess and property taxes, which are best handled at the state level. Furthermore, UMTAs require continuous funding for infrastructure projects, and SUTA provides a streamlined, single-window system for approvals, budget allocation, and monitoring, ensuring a more efficient and transparent governance process.
How will the roles of existing departments, like the Transport Department, Public Works Department, etc., evolve with the establishment of SUTA as a state-level urban transport authority?

With the establishment of SUTA, the roles of existing departments will become specialised. Departments will continue to exercise their existing functions in their respective areas. However, their efforts will be better aligned under SUTA's coordination framework. SUTA will help reduce functional overlaps, enhance efficiency, and ensure better integration of urban transport infrastructure and services.
Are there any successful state level urban transport authorities in India?

There are early examples, such as Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, which have established dedicated urban transport authorities— the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and the Directorate of Urban Transport (DUT), respectively. DULT has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable transport solutions- the development of dedicated NMT (Non-Motorized Transport) infrastructure, public bike-sharing programs, and planning for Bus Rapid Transit systems across the state. However, its formation through an executive order has led to limited success particularly in terms of interdepartmental coordination and exercising authority over other departments. Similarly, DUT has also encountered challenges in planning due to limited regulatory power and restricted fund controls.