Can Transit Oriented Development (TOD), where homes, offices, and commercial spaces are within walking, cycling, and public transport distances from a Metro or Suburban station, be retrofitted to fix Bengaluru’s perennial mobility issues? That looks like a far cry, but without a proper master plan in place, a TOD-first approach to guide the city’s future looks even more complicated.
TOD looks great on paper. It was drafted by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) in May 2019 and approved first by the Bommai Government in November 2022. Besides ease of access, TOD also proposes a boost to vertical growth through land use changes, and a consequent push to population density along Metro, suburban, and other mass transit corridors.
Now, this should sound like a dream for anyone caught in gridlocked traffic, struggling to access even the nearest Metro station or bus stop. Cycling lanes are non-existent today, and footpaths everywhere are almost always in dire need of maintenance. In a core TOD zone, a mass transit station will be just 500 metres or a six-minute walk away. Beyond this core area, the TOD extends to a kilometre where the station will be within a six-minute cycling distance.
