【社會】在印度城市行走為何如此困難_風聞

【來源龍騰網】

正文原創翻譯：

In India, if you ask a pedestrian how many obstacles they’ve encountered on a footpath, they may not be able to count them - but they’ll certainly tell you that most footpaths are in poor condition.

在印度，如果你問行人在人行道上遇到過多少障礙，他們可能數不清，但他們肯定會告訴你，大多數人行道的路況都很差。

This is what Arun Pai says he learnt when he started asking people about their experience walking on the streets of his city, Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), in southern India.

Arun Pai 説，當他開始詢問人們在印度南部城市班加羅爾（原班加羅爾）的街道上行走的體驗時，他了解到了這一點。

This month he set up a “fun challenge” - called the ‘world’s longest footpath run’ - which invited people to walk or jog on an 11km (8 miles) stretch of footpath and make a note of all the obstacles they encountered, like hawkers, garbage or broken slabs of concrete. Next, they were asked to rate the footpath on a scale of one to five.

本月，他發起了一項名為 “世界最長人行道長跑 ”的 “趣味挑戰”，邀請人們在11公里（8英里）長的人行道上步行或慢跑，並記下他們遇到的所有障礙，如小販、垃圾或破損的水泥板。然後，要求他們用 1 到 5 分給這條人行道打分。

“When you have specifics, it gets easier to ask the authorities to take action. Instead of telling your local politician “the footpaths are bad”, you can ask him or her “to fix specific spots on a street,” Mr Pai says.

“有了具體的數據，要求相關部門採取行動就變得容易多了。Pai 先生説：“與其告訴當地的政客‘人行道很糟糕’，你可以要求他或她‘修復街道上的特定位置’。

Mr Pai, who is the founder of Bangalore Walks, a non-profit that promotes walking, is among several citizen activists who are pushing to make the country’s roads more pedestrian-friendly.

Pai 先生是推廣步行的非營利組織 “班加羅爾步行”（Bangalore Walks）的創始人，他是幾位公民積極分子中的一員，他們正在努力使該國的道路更方便行人通行。

In India’s capital, a tour company called Delhi by Cycle has been advocating for making the city more cycle-friendly and walkable. These walking-enthusiasts are holding awareness walks, building walking apps and lobbying with politicians to make a change.

在印度首都德里，一家名為 “Delhi by Cycle”的旅遊公司一直在倡導讓這座城市更適合騎行和步行。這些步行愛好者正在舉行宣傳步行活動，開發步行應用程序，並遊説政治家做出改變。

Even in India’s biggest cities, proper footpaths are few and far between and they are often overrun by hawkers and shops, parked vehicles and even cattle. In some places, they double up as homes for the poor.

即使在印度最大的城市裏，合適的人行道也是少之又少，而且經常被小販、商店、停放的車輛甚至牛羣佔據。在一些地方，人行道還兼作窮人的住所。

Even footpaths that exist are often not built to standard or properly maintained. Navigating roads on foot through crowds and traffic can be a nightmare.

即使是現有的人行道，也往往不是按照標準修建的，也沒有得到適當的維護。在擁擠的人羣和車流中走路穿行簡直就是一場噩夢。

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Last month, Walking Project, a citizen’s group in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, released a ‘pedestrian manifesto’ ahead of Maharashtra state elections to highlight the poor condition of the city’s roads and encourage local politicians to take action.

上個月，印度金融之都孟買的一個公民團體 “步行項目 ”在馬哈拉施特拉邦選舉前發佈了一份 “步行者宣言”，強調該市道路狀況不佳，並鼓勵當地政治家採取行動。

The manifesto included demands for better parking, designated hawking zones, pedestrian-friendly corridors on arterial roads and to make footpaths more accessible to those with mobility challenges.

該宣言包括要求改善停車條件、劃定擺賣區、在主幹道上修建行人友好型走廊，以及讓行動不便者更方便地走人行道。

“Government statistics show that almost 50% of the city’s population relies on walking, which is far greater than the 11% that uses private transport and the combined 15% that uses tuk-tuks and buses,” says Vendant Mhatre, convener of Walking Project.

“步行項目召集人 Vendant Mhatre 説：“政府統計數據顯示，這座城市近50%的人口依賴步行，遠高於11%的人口使用私人交通工具，以及15%人口使用嘟嘟車和公交車。

“And yet, pedestrians are the most ignored group of users when it comes to framing policies around transport or road safety,” he adds.

他補充説：“然而，在制定交通或道路安全政策時，行人是最容易被忽視的用户羣體。

According to the latest government estimates on road accidents, pedestrian fatalities were the second-highest after those of two-wheeler riders. In 2022, over 10,000 pedestrians lost their lives on national highways across the country, with around 21,000 more sustaining injuries in accidents.

根據政府對道路交通事故的最新估計，行人死亡人數僅次於兩輪摩托車駕駛員。2022 年，全國有 1 萬多名行人在國道上喪生，另有約 2.1 萬人在事故中受傷。

“Authorities often resort to band-aid solutions like adding speed bumps or a signal to curb road accidents. But what is really needed is inter-connected footpaths that can accommodate high footfall,” Mr Mhatre says.

“部門往往採用一些治標不治本的辦法，如增加減速帶或信號燈來遏制道路交通事故。但真正需要的是能夠容納大量人流的相互連接的人行道，“Mhatre 先生説。

Studies have found that addressing the problems of this forgotten group of road users can reap benefits for multiple stakeholders.

研究發現，解決這一被遺忘的道路使用者羣體的問題可以為多個利益相關者帶來好處。

In 2019, researchers in the southern city of Chennai studied the impact the construction of new footpaths on 100km (62 miles) of the city’s streets had on the environment, economy and the health and safety of citizens.

2019 年，南部城市欽奈的研究人員研究了在該市 100 公里（62 英里）的街道上修建新人行道對環境、經濟以及市民健康和安全的影響。

They found that the new footpaths encouraged 9% to 27% of the surveyed respondents to walk instead of using motorized transport, which led to a reduction in greenhouse gases and particulate matter. They also learned that the footpaths provided new opportunities for women and lower-income groups, helping them save money as well.

他們發現，新的人行道鼓勵 9% 至 27% 的受訪者以步行代替使用機動車，從而減少了温室氣體和顆粒物。他們還了解到，人行道為婦女和低收入羣體提供了新的機會，幫助他們節省了開支。

The survey highlighted how people with disabilities and women might have nuanced requirements from footpaths and that tailoring improvements to meet their needs could enhance accessibility and equity.

調查強調了殘疾人和婦女對人行道可能有細微的要求，為滿足他們的需求而量身定製的改進措施可以提高無障礙程度和公平性。

“Very often, people don’t have a benchmark for footpath quality, especially if they haven’t travelled abroad or been exposed to places that have good facilities for pedestrians,” Mr Mhatre says. He reasons that that’s why there isn’t enough outrage about the quality or absence of footpaths in the country.

“很多時候，人們對人行道的質量沒有一個基準，尤其是如果他們沒有出國旅行過，或者沒有接觸過那些為行人提供良好設施的地方，”Mhatre 先生説，他認為這就是為什麼人們對國內人行道的質量或缺失沒有足夠的憤怒。

He also points out that most people see walking as an activity performed for leisure or exercise. And so, the infrastructure they associate with walking stops at gardens or walking tracks. In reality, however, people walk to various destinations daily, so the scope of walking infrastructure is far broader.

他還指出，大多數人認為步行是一種休閒或鍛鍊活動。因此，他們將基礎設施與花園的步行站或者步行道聯繫在一起。但實際上，人們每天都要步行前往不同的目的地，因此步行基礎設施的範圍要廣泛得多。

“Walking is the most economical and environment-friendly way to navigate one’s city and it’s high time our leaders paid as much attention to walking infrastructure as they do to public transport,” Mr Mhatre says.

Mhatre先生説：“步行是最經濟、最環保的城市出行方式，現在是時候讓我們的領導人像關注公共交通一樣關注步行基礎設施了。

Geetam Tiwari, a professor of civil engineering, says that the main problem is that too much focus is given to solving the problem of car congestion on roads.

土木工程學教授 Geetam Tiwari 説，主要問題在於人們過於關注解決道路上汽車擁堵的問題。

“To improve the flow of traffic, authorities often narrow down footpaths or eliminate them entirely,” she says. Ms Tiwari says that this approach is problematic because doing so makes it difficult for pedestrians to access public transport systems, like buses and metros, which can take the pressure off the roads.

她説：“為了改善交通流量，部門常常縮小人行道或完全取消人行道。”Tiwari 女士説，這種做法是有問題的，因為這樣做會使行人難以進入公共交通系統，像公共汽車和地鐵，可以減輕道路的壓力。

“It might seem counter-intuitive, but allowing the congestion to persist and focussing on improving infrastructure for pedestrians will help solve the traffic problem in the long run,” she says.

她説：“這似乎有違直覺，但從長遠來看，允許交通擁堵繼續存在並集中精力改善行人基礎設施將有助於解決交通問題。

Ms Tiwari also says that the federal government should make it mandatory for states to implement the guidelines issued by the Indian Road Congress - a national organisation that lays down designing standards for roads and highways.

Tiwari 女士還表示，聯邦政府應強制要求各邦執行印度道路大會發布的指導方針，該全國性組織負責制定道路和高速公路的設計標準。

She says that cities can also implement their own Non-Motorised Transport Policy (NMTP) to create better infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

她説，城市也可以實施自己的非機動交通政策（NMTP），為騎自行車者和行人創造更好的基礎設施。

“At the moment, only a handful of cities in India have experimented with a NMTP but its time more cities step up to the plate,” she adds.

她補充説：“目前，印度只有少數幾個城市嘗試過非機動化交通政策，但現在是時候讓更多的城市行動起來了。