Bertie fondly remembers a summer he spent in London when he discovered the convenience of the Tube to get around the sprawling city. So, when a Metro Line 3 station became operational near his office, Bertie started dreaming of an efficient commute home. An expectant Bertie thus walked to the nearby Metro station one evening. Even after he was inside the station precinct, the walk was quite long, but he rationalized that the underground walk was better than risking his life on BKC roads.
Despite the rush hour, the train was quite empty, and Bertie easily found a seat. For someone conditioned to play the elaborate strategy game called ‘securing a seat in a Mumbai local’, this seemed like an easy win. Bertie got off at the terminating station and another walk later ascended to the street level. This time he rationalized by thinking that the Mumbai metro is ensuring his daily step count.
On coming out of the station, what surprised our man was that apart from a few sleeping dogs, there were no means of further transportation from the station. No auto-rickshaws, buses or even a walkable footpath. Bertie eventually added further to his step count, secured an auto by promising 50% more than the metered fare to reach home a good twenty minutes later than what we would have had he just taken the road. His London dream had been shattered.
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A few days later, when he met Ron, his old friend who is now a real estate professional but had earlier worked with the government on urban infrastructure planning, he expressed his disappointment. Ron smiled and said, “Multiple agencies. No coordination.” What he meant was that in Mumbai, the Metro was a standalone authority whose scope of work ended at the metro station. The buses were run by BEST, for footpaths it was BMC, and to get a rickshaw rank installed outside the station, one needed the RTO and police permission.
Bertie then asked about the low usage despite running through prime office areas in the city. “The network effect will take some time to show,” said Ron. “Currently, it’s piecemeal. A part of one line getting operational.” That made sense to Bertie. “But the important thing is that the metro line has to connect with Mumbai’s local train stations to get usage. A line with no train station connections won’t find many takers.” Ron sensed Bertie’s sadness and, to cheer him up, said, “Matter of time, my friend.”
The disappointed commuter Bertie soon gave way to the astute investor, who is never far away. “What does that mean for real estate prices, Ron?” he asked, hoping to discover a value buy; some far-flung area in the city which would become better connected due to the new metro and road network. Ron knew what Bertie was getting at but sidestepped directly answering it. “In general, it will lead to equalization of travel time,” he said. “Think of the city as a circle. When the network is fully ready, commute time for any point on the edge to any other point on the edge will cluster around a mean number.” Since the conversation, Bertie was seen drawing a circle around the city map of Mumbai and peering at the edges.
Bertie is a Mumbai-based fund manager whose compliance department wishes him to cough twice before speaking and then decide not to say it after all.
