Smart mobility in Auroville

Mobility is a matter of serious concern. Right now, Auroville is extremely unsmart in its mobility choices. The main means of transport is the individually-owned petrol-based two-wheeler and, increasingly, a petrol or diesel car. During the guest season, the number of vehicles increases almost three-fold. Since most roads are unpaved, they raise a lot of dust, which affects our health. That, and the noise and the speed with which people travel, create an environment which is the opposite of what Auroville should aspire for.

How can we change this? One way is to promote more collective transport. Another way is to go for electric motorcycles. A third way is to cultivate a cycling culture by improving our cycle paths. In all these areas we have experimented, with mixed results.

The bus service

When I joined Auroville ten years ago, we started a community bus service. At that time, electric buses were not an option because of the prohibitive cost of replacing failing batteries. Diesel buses were the only possibility. We made a survey of eight entry points into Auroville, during morning, noon and evening during peak hours, and we devised a basic service with a frequency that would meet 80% of the Aurovilians’ needs. But this project needed Rs 1 core to kick off, and we couldn’t raise the funds.

We decided to start with a smaller service. We purchased two vehicles through donations. Our business model proposed charging a minimum of rupees five or ten a person to ferry all the visitors between the Visitors’ Centre and the Matrimandir. With that income, we calculated, we could sustain and grow a public transport system for Auroville as a whole. But the groups in charge of the Matrimandir and the Visitors’ Centre said ‘No, this is a spiritual place and we should not charge people.’ This was a damper on our ideals. Instead, we started a regular morning and evening bus service to Pondicherry, which we managed to run for eight years. But the project could not be financially sustained. When the continuation became financially impossible, and Auroville’s Budget Coordination Committee decided against supporting the deficit from the central budget even though the amount required was quite small, the project was discontinued.

Electrifying rickshaws

Another idea was a three-wheeler electric rickshaw. We built two prototypes, converting existing tri-cycle rickshaws. They were used for some time to ferry students on field trips. But we had to abandon them as the project was not economically viable because of the high cost and low quality of the batteries that were then available.

We also did a CAD design of an electric rickshaw where the clients sit facing the back instead of the front, to get in and out more easily. It could pull one or more modules, like an electric train. Again, batteries were an issue and the project failed to take off. But the idea is not dead. Now that the new lithium battery technology has reached the Indian market, it could be revived.

Electrifying motorcycles and bicycles

A third idea was to use alternative energy for individual transportation, by developing electric motorcycles and bicycles, pedal-assisted for the winter and fully motorized for the summer.

The electric motorbike project was quite successful. We created our own electric vehicle, the Humvee, converted many petrol two-wheelers and went through the necessary learning curve to maintain them. After four years, more than 150 electric vehicles were plying the Auroville roads. Some of these are still in use.

The set-back was that, at the time, the batteries and motor components had to be imported from China. We had to pay 36% excise duty. As there was no government subsidy to support this initiative, the electric vehicle became too expensive for Auroville residents.

We were less successful with our idea of promoting electric bicycles. In 2006, when there were not many electric bicycles in India, a generous friend was ready to donate 500 electric bicycles to Auroville. A container with bikes and spares would be sent from China. I published an announcement in the News and Notes, asking who would be interested in the idea of free electric bicycles. Only 5 people showed up! So, I concluded that Auroville was not ready, and declined the offer with thanks.

A bicycle collective

In 2009, we coordinated a six-week workshop with architects, design students, interns, industrial designers and a few experts in the transport domain to study different ways to make Auroville a bicycle-friendly place. One of the ideas was to have six or seven free bicycle kiosks in Auroville to provide ‘free’ bicycles to the community for short trips. People would walk from their home to one of these kiosks, take a bicycle to go where they like, and drop it at any other kiosk, a system similar to what exists in some large European and American cities. The kiosks would be maintained and some could have a coffee shop next to it. That was the vision. But it didn’t materialize. Theft was too great a risk and the support structure could not be setup. Moreover, people want the freedom that individually-owned fossil fuel motorized transport provides.

Solutions for the future

For me it is obvious that Auroville must promote a cycling culture. If we could focus on improving our bicycle paths, make more of them, maintain them and really ensure that they can only be accessed by bicycles and not by motorbikes, we can create a campus-like feeling in Auroville where everybody cycles. To improve security and riding safety, we could install lamp posts with sensors – the lights will turn on when someone comes through. Measures can be taken so that at night people can drive safely to their homes. A fund could be set-up to provide free high-end bicycles to children, to motivate them, and to teach them how to maintain the cycles.

Auroville should also start promoting electric bicycles and motorcycles. A new commercial unit, Kinisi, has recently been created. It will help Aurovilians choose their next vehicle from the best electric bicycles and bikes that are now available in India. As these are still expensive, we are proposing that people pay what they can – say the same as for a non-electric vehicle – and get an Auroville loan to pay for the difference. The loan is to be repaid from the savings on petrol.

The Electric Vehicle Service group has also started addressing the issue of servicing and maintenance of e-bicycles and e-bikes. We are getting ready to provide top-notch service to all electric vehicles. An Electric Vehicle Service Station is being built in the Service area and we will cooperate towards building charging points all over Auroville.

Today, there are no barriers to go for smart mobility. When people realize that going electric is cheaper than staying with petrol, and if they get a loan incentive to make the switch, the momentum towards electric transport will pick up quickly. This will benefit the individual and the community and make the City that the Earth needs less polluted, quieter and greener.

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