Successes and Failures of UMTAs in India – How Kochi can Perfect Integration of Public Transport

The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2006, recommended the creation of a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) in all ‘million-plus’ cities in India. In theory, the creation of an Integrated Transport System (ITS) is the answer to the problems posed by congestion, pollution and road accidents in India. In the light of the newly approved Kerala Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA) draft bill in Kerala, an evaluation of the successes and failures of the current UMTA development process across India is necessary.

Figure 1 indicates that the formation of UMTA is reactive to policy reforms and not part of a proactive process at the city level. After the issuance of the NUTP in 2006, five UMTAs were established by 2008. However, as of 2009, the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) made it mandatory for cities to establish an UMTA to access bus funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), as part of urban transport reform. In the immediate period after this reform was implemented, 10 more UMTAs were announced around India. No new UMTA was established between 2013 and 2017. Currently, there are 15 UMTAs in India, which is comparably low, considering there are 53 urban agglomerations in India with million-plus populations.

Figure 1: Graph Indicating the Frequency of UMTA Establishment until 2013

Source: MoUD, Government of India, 2014

The KMTA draft bill passed on January 1, 2018, is significant for Kochi, which has already made large strides in the public transport sector with an active first phase of the Kochi Metro and the proposed water metro. Now, it seems there will be cohesion between different public transport modes in the city. However, one must question whether KMTA can initiate tangible outcomes, especially when it would rely so heavily on the existing power relations within the city. If the head of UMTA has no real authority, then the goal of the unification of the public transport system will not be realised. In order to evaluate the potential outcomes of UMTA in Kochi, it is important to look at the successes and failures of UMTAs established in other Indian cities.

 Table 1: Data on Existing UMTAs in India

 

City	State	Size of city	Year  UMTA was formed	Reason for establishment	Legislative backing	Headed by
Hyderabad	Telangana	Metro	2008	NUTP	Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority Act	Chief Secretary
Mumbai	Maharashtra	Metro	2008	NUTP	Executive Order	Chief Secretary
Delhi (UTTIPEC)	Delhi	Metro	2009	JNNURM funding policy	Delhi Development Act	Lieutenant Governor
Chennai	Tamil Nadu	Metro	2010	JNNURM funding policy	Special Enactment	Transport Minister
Bangalore	Karnataka	Metro	2007	NUTP	Executive Order	Chief Secretary
Jaipur	Rajasthan	Medium	2007	NUTP	Executive Order	Chief Secretary
Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	Medium	2009	JNNURM funding policy	Executive Order	Chief Secretary
Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	Small	2012		Executive Order	N/A
Kochi	Kerala	Small	2018	Initiated by Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL)	Draft Bill	TBA

 

Figure 2: Progress in Establishing UMTAs in Indian Cities

 

Source: MoUD, Government of India, 2014

The UMTA development process faces many challenges. The key challenge is the low frequency of meetings. Hyderabad established the first UMTA in India and in the nine years of its existence, it met only 11 times (MoUD, 2014). There is evidence of other cities following suit. The average interval of meetings of UMTAs across the country was eight to 12 months, with only one or two meetings being called in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The successful integration of the different public transport modes calls for concrete efforts on the part of all the groups involved to change the way the public transport system functions in a city. The State of the Art Report, 2014, notes that UMTAs, in general, are weak organisations with limited powers to carry out their functions. They are essentially committees dependent on other agencies for support and project implementation. Therefore, the head of UMTA is critical to its success. In the case of Kochi, the KMRL chief will head UMTA, once the draft bill is passed. This is different from most other UMTAs, which could be a good thing.

The actual reason behind the creation of UMTA in a city could be a potential reason for the slow progress being made in public transport integration around the country. As mentioned earlier, most cities created UMTA as a reaction to policy changes, such as the issuance of the NUTP in 2006 or access to bus funding under JNNURM. For instance, Jaipur established UMTA following the issuance of NUTP, though the city had a similar body called the Traffic Control Board (TCB).

Delhi, under the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC), which acts like UMTA, has the most successful integrated transport system in the country, as it has high levels of project approval and implementation as well as effective research initiatives. A reason for this could be that the body was created not as a reaction to policy but out of necessity. Therefore, the success of the authority in Kochi is already a possibility, as the KMTA draft bill is a reaction to the public transport problems and not public policy. The successful implementation of UMTA in Kochi relies on an empowered head of authority, high frequency of meetings and buy-in from all parties involved, including the public. It is also highly important for UMTA to act as a connection between the national, state and local governments, and bring together various powerful actors in the public transport sector in the city.

 

 

*Sarah Reeves is Reearch Intern at CPPR