The Link Between Speed, Mobility And Real Estate

In a densely populated city, the average distance between two people will be low. This may seem surprising to many, because commute times are very long in densely populated Indian cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. But this is undeniable, because this follows from the definition of density. Density is about too many people squeezing themselves into too little space. So, the average distance between people is, by definition, low.

So, why has not high density led to lower commute times in Indian cities? This is because commute times depend on many factors. Even if the distance between two points is lower, the commute time can still be long if the roads are congested. The design of transportation networks and the mode of transport will have a huge impact on mobility within a city. In other words, how roads are managed will have a huge impact on mobility.

In India, one-fifth of non-agricultural workers walk to work. Of the rest, most travel by cycle, moped or motorcycle. This means that commute speed is low. This is a major cause of poverty and homelessness because even if they walk for an hours, they will not have access to a large number of employers. Not many people would want to walk for hours in a day, to reach employers who are far away. The mode of transportation is  a major cause of fragmented labour markets, low income levels and poor housing standards. Even though density has fallen in major cities of the world, commute times have declined significantly, too. This is because speed has lowered commute times in all cities.

Cars traveling at a high speed, on the other hand, lead to air pollution, congestion and road accidents. Looking at this, many urban planners and activists think that mobility should be curtailed. They imagine a world where people walk to work, or use a bicycle to reach workplace. This is a mistake because we cannot do without mobility even if mobility has its downsides. Curtailing mobility will fragment labour markets even further.  Even asking people to drive slowly does not necessarily lower fatalities.

The only solution is to see road space as real estate, and manage it better. Seeing roads as real estate may seem abstract, but this is an important distinction. When you drive, you are paying the price of the automobile and gasoline, but not of the road space you consume. The price of the road space also depends on the locality and time. It is not just that roads are real estate. The maintenance costs of roads are high, too. We are not able to minimise the downsides of mobility only because — as former world bank researcher Alain bertaud points out — we do not look at traffic as a real estate problem.

For example, widening the roads in Connaught Place, Delhi's central business district, is costly. To begin with, the cost of pulling down shops and establishments in Connaught Place to widen the streets is high. It is the most expensive office space market in India. Unofficial rents in Connaught Place are among the highest in the world. At the same time, we would be replacing those shops and establishments with streets that do not collect rents at all. Even to park vehicles, people need not pay much, if they pay at all. So, we would be shifting the use of land from people who were expected to use real estate carefully to people who have no incentive to use real estate carefully. This is the major cause of road congestion, air and pollution.