Sustainable mobility option in hill cities

Abstract

Transportation is a very important element which cannot be separated from society. It is responsible for the growth of society from the early times by meeting the travel demand of the people. Transportation provides easy accessibility and mobility to the dwellers of the city. The growth of rapid urbanization and the necessity to provide resources to the growing population leads to the growth of mobility demands to stay connected with society by performing needful daily activities. Such a huge demand in transportation would give rise to several problems in which the idea of sustainability comes into being. As stated by the Brundtland Commission in 1987, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". SO, sustainability in mobility is very important to tackle situations that pose threat environmentally as well as economically at present and also in the future.As cities grow, the necessity of amenities also grows. Cities in the plain areas have enough strategies to endure and manage the growth from time to time. Whereas the hill cities have to face a lot of challenges as they have a very limited scope of expansion with acute bends, curves and narrow roadways which gives rises to a problematic situation. An example of this is the hill city Shillong situated in the state of Meghalaya which is selected as the study area. So, to face such a challenge in future, sustainable mobility options are very necessary to fulfil the needs in the longer run. Larger cities provide many mobility options for the ease of commuters and goods to move from one place to another, in broader ways, connecting the entire globe. But in hill cities, there are only a few options of mobility due to its undulating topography. Therefore, it is very essential to opt-out a sustainable efficient mobility alternative that would cater to the transportation system. This study identifies the various sustainable indicators in the dimension of Environmental Sustainability (Emission) and Economical (Generalized Cost, Generalized Time) available in the literature. Understanding the existing transportation system is another important step towards sustainability analysis. The data that has been collected through primary and secondary sources are used for calculating the GC, GT and Emission of the IPT and PT modes of the study area and as a result, the most efficient mode among them has been found out that would aid in preserving the sustainability. Finally, a set of proposals have been addressed for the identified utmost sustainable mode.