Which Vehicle Makes The Best Use Of Road Space?

Which vehicle uses road space in the best way possible? It is impossible to answer this question, for the same reason it is impossible for a restaurateur to think of an optimal meal or the optimal number of diners in a group. A restaurateur may find many lone diners annoying at peak hours. But when nobody is around, they are quite valuable to be turned down. It may be true that expensive meals cover the cost of real estate more easily. But if this proved anything, there would not have been such a huge variance in the price of the items on a restaurant menu.

The same principle applies to road space. In a city like Atlanta where population density is very low and vehicle ownership is very high, everybody traveling in private cars may still be an optimal usage of road space. It may be true that congestion on roads can nearly be eliminated if everybody used public transit. But, this will increase the congestion in mass transit systems, and make traveling uncomfortable, lowering living standards.

Real estate is valuable, and it is possible to cut down the usage of real estate by getting everybody into mass transit. But, low dense cities are sparsely populated, using real estate as road space does not hurt anybody much. Land is not scarce in Atlanta and many similar American cities. In such situations, time becomes more of a scarce resource. Cutting down commute times through personal vehicles become more important and so does privacy and comfort. This is why despite having one of the best subway systems in the world, mass transit usage in Atlanta has not risen over the past few decades. In fact, in the past few decades, people have moved away from near mass transit stations. This is in stark contrast with Indian cities where people prefer to live near mass transit stations. It is hard to imagine people moving away from where mass transit stations are, in Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru or Chennai.

This is because optimal usage of road space and other resources depend on population density, geography, income levels, culture and many other factors. A car carries two persons per hour on a 3.5 meter wide lane in the city. On a 3.5-meter wide lane in an hour, a regular bus carries nine people, cyclists carry 14 people, and a bus rapid transit or BRT can carry about 20 people. Similarly, light rail can carry 22 people, a double-lane BRT can carry 43 people, heavy lane can carry 80 people and suburban rail can carry 100 people.

In Indian cities, for example, buses occupy only six per cent of the road space, while cars, jeeps, vans and two-wheelers occupy about 87 per cent of the road space. Still, buses carry as many people as the rest of the vehicles put together. This is, by itself, not inefficient. This would have been still efficient if not occupied by pollution, road congestion and other evils, and if people were paying for the road space they use. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Vehicles consume road space for free while driving and while being parked. This is a severe drain on resources because road space is very valuable in all major Indian cities. This also makes road too congested, making commute times longer and fragmenting labour markets.