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THE BIG QUESTION TOILETS AT DELHI METRO

A COMMUTERS PERSPECTIVE
A report by Group 4
Ashish Bhasin Roll no. 8 Benz Thomas - Roll no. 11 Vivek Sharma Roll no. 47 Ashish Dubey - Roll no. 9 Pratik Sharma - Roll no. 32

THE BIG QUESTION TOILETS AT DELHI METRO

A COMMUTERS PERSPECTIVE
1.1 PREFACE
Prior to the advent of the Delhi Metro in December 2002, travelling in Delhi used to be a problem. With Blue line buses or its earlier killer version, the Red Line buses being the primary mode of public transport, people of Delhi would cringe at the word of travel. These private buses, over packed people to the maximum possible extent, causing angst among travelers. With its launch in 2002, Delhi Metro has been increasing its network and continues to reach newer areas. Today with 142 stations spread over 6 lines, 2.06 million commuters use their services every day. Delhi Metro has become the life line of Delhi and even a few minutes delay comes at a great risk. As the travel on the Delhi Metro became commonplace, people have started demanding more and more services. One of the key points being highlighted by commuters is the lack of Toilet facilities in the Delhi Metro network. While this has been a long lingering issue, in August 2012, the matter went to the Supreme Court of India and the court asked Delhi Metro, Government of India and Government of NCT of Delhi to respond with their views. It was felt that understanding and pursuing the commuters perspective on this issue would make for a strong case as to where to have the toilets. This report through its survey focuses on the issue of how the model of toilets should be selected, where it should be located and what do commuters feel about the whole issue.

ABOUT DELHI METRO

142 stations 6 lines Moving more than 2.06 million commuters every day Launched in December 2002

This report can be used by DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation), to respond to the courts question of how and where to locate the toilets. This report throws some interesting insights on the model and how people would like to pay for the service.

2.1 ACKONOWLEDGEMENT
The team wishes to thank the people who took out time to answer the questionnaire, both online and on face to face basis. A few of our colleagues need to be thanked as well for taking the preliminary questionnaire and providing us with valuable feedback.

Image from www.sxc.hu

3.1 CONTENTS
S no. 1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.1 6.1 7.1 8.1 9.1 10.1 11.1 12.1 13.1 Topic Preface Acknowledgement Contents About Delhi and its people Genesis of Delhi Metro About Delhi Metro The toilet issue and Delhi Metro Survey methodology Survey analysis Other details captures Conclusion Appendix References Glossary Abstract summary Page number 1 2 3 4 4 4 6 7 7 9 10 11 12 13 13

4.1 ABOUT DELHI AND ITS POPULATION

With an estimated population of 16 million as per a conservative report in 2011, Delhi city is the 2nd most populated city in India. It also has the distinction of being the 8th most populous city in the world. Add to the neighboring cities of Baghpat, Gurgaon, Sonepat, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida along with other smaller nearby towns, the NCR region as it is popularly known as, has close to 22 million urban residents. The NCT, as Delhi is known in the administrative circles, and its urban region has been given the special status of National Capital Region (NCR) under the Indian constitution's 69th amendment act of 1991.

4.2 THE GENESIS OF DELHI METRO

The NCR region has had a transport system was served primarily by diesel and CNG driven buses, Autos and Taxis. These we ineffective in terms of cost, reach and punctuality. A local train system operated by the Indian railways also was ineffective due to the lack of network and schedule adherence. A study conducted in the year 1969 to assess the transport requirements for Delhi and NCR first explored the concept of a mass rapid transit. The next few years were spent in understanding and developing reports on what should be done to overcome the challenges of an increasing population. The Delhi Development Authority and the Urban Arts Commission came up with a proposal for developing a multi-modal transport system, which would consist of constructing three underground mass rapid transit corridors as well augmenting the city's existing suburban railway and road transport networks. With traffic and pollution soaring, an ever burgeoning population started putting pressure on the Government to come up with a sustainable solution to the citys traffic problem. A twofold rise in population and a fivefold rise in the number of vehicles between 1981 and 1998 led to exploration of Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for the people of Delhi. An attempt at privatizing the bus transport system in 1992 merely compounded the problem, with inexperienced operators plying poorly maintained, noisy and polluting buses on lengthy routes, resulting in long waiting times, unreliable service, extreme overcrowding, unqualified drivers, speeding and reckless driving. To rectify the situation, the Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up a company called the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on March 5, 1995.

4.3 ABOUT DELHI METRO

Delhi Metro currently serves people in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of six lines with a total length of 189.63 kilometers with 142 stations of which 35 are underground. It has a combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines and uses both broad gauge and standard gauge rolling stock. DMRC operates more than 2,700 trips daily between 6:00 and 23:00 running with an interval of 2 minutes 30 seconds between trains at peak frequency. The trains are mainly of four coaches, but due to increase in passenger numbers, six-coach trains are also added on the Red Line (Dilshad Garden to Rithala), Yellow Line (Jahangirpuri to HUDA city centre), Blue Line (Dwarka sec 21 to Vaishali/NOIDA

city centre) and Violet Line (Central Secretariat to Badarpur). The team was initially led by E. Sreedharan as Managing Director, DMRC till his retirement in 31 December 2011. His successor is Mangu Singh, who currently is leading the execution of the new lines. Phase III and Phase IV are scheduled for completion in 2016 and 2021 respectively. Work on Phase III has already started while planning for Phase IV has begun.

Picture: Delhi Metro network

5.1 THE TOILET ISSUE AND DELHI METRO

With an ever increasing network, the Delhi Metro, by 2015, is expected to reach more places that it has ever touched. With comfort and punctuality as the main aspects, more and more people are taking to the Delhi Metro for commuting from one end of the city to another. Though this has decreased the travel time for people, the average time spent within the metro network has increased. Add to it the extreme weather condition in Delhi both summers and winters, the fluid intake varies drastically. With the Metro offering bare minimum or almost no toilet facilities at many of its stations, it was becoming a challenge for commuters who wanted to use the restrooms in case of requirements. In most cases they would have to exit the station, use the facility close by if it existed and then come back into the station to continue their commute. At some stations Delhi Metro did open up its employee toilets for the public but these were grossly inadequate or under publicized. In most cases this meant an additional cost which most people could seldom afford. Globally a few Metros do offer toilet facilities in their network. These include the Taipei, Shanghai and Tokyo amongst others.

5.2 THE TOILET ISSUE TIMELINE

2007 2009 2012

PIL in Delhi High Court for providing of toilets in Delhi Metro The Delhi High Court directs DMRC to permit use of Metro staff toilets at Mandi House, Vidhan Sabha, Chawri Bazaar and Civil Lines

Delhi High Court throws out PIL for toilet facility in Delhi Metro Directs them to approach Delhi Metro

Satish Kumar Sharma, challenges Delhi High Court order which had dismissed the plea for toilet facilites in Metro Station SC notice to Metro over lack of toilets

6.1 SURVEY METHODOLOGY

While provision of Toilet facilities in public places is a basic necessity, we wanted the commuters perspective on how they wanted the facility to be structured. While the Delhi Metro has toilets at various locations, most of them are outside the station which meant commuters need to get out, use the facility and then come back in. Where the facility was actually available, people did not know about their existence. The survey was designed to understand if people indeed wanted the toilet facility, where they wanted it and how would the payment be structured (Refer to annexure 1A for the survey questionnaire).

7.1 SURVEY ANALYSIS

1. The foremost reason cited by people for wanting toilets is the increase in the Delhi Metro network. With peoples propensity to use the Delhi Metro increasing people are travelling more and more kilometers to reach their destination. People have also cited

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 With the Delhi In winters it There can be Metro network becomes an emergency increasing important people travel longer Medical condition Others please specify

2. Most people want the toilet within the station premises. This can be attributed to the fact that it is indeed difficult to exit the station and look for options to relive oneself. What is interesting is that this set of people wanted the location to be within the premises of the main station but away from the station platform. This can be attributed to the fact that commuters want the station platforms to maintain the current level of cleanliness.

Outside the station premises but within the boundary wall 18%

On the platform 21% Within the station premises on the station floor 21%

Within the premises but away from the station floor/platform 40%

3. An interesting insight that was found from the survey was the fact that people wanted to pay for using the facility. A pay per use model was propagated by 61% of the respondents. A mere 28% wanted the toilet facility for free.

Free 28%

Pay per use 61% Incorporated into the token money 11%

8.1 OTHER DETAILS CAPTURED FROM THE SURVEY

Our survey was administered to about 69 people. Of this 30 were face to face interviews conducted at Dwarka Sector 9 station, Noida City Center and Jankapuri West. The remaining respondents were gathered via the online method. The age breakup is given below.

Less than 18

18-30

30-60

60+

7%

9%

26%

58%

Respondents by sex

Female 38% Male 62%

9.1 CONCLUSIONS
There are some interesting inferences showed by this survey and our recommendations are based on these. While there is no question around the requirement of toilets in Metro stations, we propose the following:1. DMRC should go in for a PPP (public private partnership) model for execution and maintenance of toilets at stations. While DMRC should provide the space and erection of these facilities, the maintenance should be left to a private party thus allowing DMRC to focus on their main job i.e. running the trains per schedule. This insight comes from the fact that 72 percent of commuters are willing to pay to use these facilities provided these are up to the mark. 2. The payment for usage of the toilet facilities should be as a pay per use model. Incorporating it into the token money will cause immense displeasure among the commuters. 3. The toilet facilities should be located within the station premises but beyond the actual platform. This will ensure cleanliness of the station premises and also be convenient for people because they no more have to exit the station for this activity

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10.1 APPENDIX 1A survey questionnaire TOILET FACILITIES AT METRO STATIONS

Please select only one answer for each question except Question 8 1. Name (optional): 2. Age a. Less than 18 b. 18-30 c. 30-60 d. 60+ 3. Gender a. Male b. Female 4. How many times a week do you use the Delhi Metro (if you use it for going and coming back from work please count it as 2 times) a. Less than 5 times a week b. 6-10 times a week c. More than 11 times a week 5. Do you think Metro Stations should have toilets within the station premises a. Yes b. No 6. Please chose the reason you think there should be toilets in stations a. With the Delhi Metro network increasing people travel longer b. In winters it becomes important c. There can be an emergency d. Medical condition e. Others please specify 7. What kind of payment structure do you want Delhi Metro to incorporate for the toilets? a. Pay per use b. Incorporated into your token money c. Free 8. What should be the location of the toilet a. On the platform b. Within the station premises on the station floor c. Within the premises but away from the station floor/platform d. Outside the station premises but within the boundary wall 9. What other facility would you like at Metro Stations (You can select multiple answers)

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a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l.

More bogies per train Frequency should be increased Better light snacks and water facilities Online recharge of metro cards Better connectivity from home to metro stations AC buses for Metro Connectivity along with ordinary ones Better security check facility including easier process for entering stations Help for old and senior citizens Better laptop and mobile phone charging facilities Increased parking space Nothing I love the metro Others Please specify

1B News article from The Economic Times

11.1 REFERENCES
Metro Guide by DMRC Delhi Metro Caring for your safety http://www.delhimetrorail.com/ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com http://en.wikipedia.org Images have been sourced from the internet using google images

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12.1 GLOSSARY
DMRC Delhi Metro Rail Corporation GNCTD Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi 6 lines refers to the 6 separate routes run by the Delhi Metro PPP Public Private Partnership where facilities are built by the Govt agency and managed by a private organization with profit sharing

13.1 ABSTRACT SUMMARY

Toilet facilities are one of the basic facilities any human requires. The Supreme Court has asked the Delhi Metro to respond with its stand on provision of this facility in their stations. People too want this facility and they are willing to pay for it if they use it. This makes it easier for Delhi Metro to launch and maintain these services in the stations. The biggest challenge would be ensuring that these are easily accessible and the person does not have to exit the station to use it. If this criterion is not met then it would be difficult for the sustainability of the service. Delhi Metro will have to be extremely choosy is picking up the spot to locate these toilet facilities which preferably should be within the station premises but away from the platform. This will be a tough ask considering almost all the stations have been built to best utilize the space available and expansion will not be easy. It remains to be seen what stand Delhi Metro will take in the Honorable Supreme Court and what justification it provides for installing or not installing these facilities.

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