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12 years ago, I was in a class I will never forget. We were asked to sit back, relax, and watch a movie—Blade Runner. 

But it wasn’t a random movie we were asked to watch for fun. This was part of the urban design course we were doing. We were asked to watch the movie to do what we were there for, study cities by observing how the film depicted a city. This was a class unlike any I had attended so far, and it left me inspired to learn more about cities and work on urban projects going forward. This deviation from conventional ways of teaching—where professors usually just tell students things—is why I still remember this class and what I learnt in it, even a decade later.

I also learnt that this is what teaching is about—finding new ways to inspire, to transfer knowledge, and most importantly, to get that knowledge to stick in people’s minds. 

Today, I am part of the team at ITDP India that’s been working for more than two decades on building the capacity of city officials in planning and implementing sustainable mobility initiatives. 

Over the years, we’ve been testing various methods to do this, like workshops, presentations, toolkits, templates, study tours, hands-on exercises. We’ve learnt from these tests, and scaled up the effective ones. 

In 2020, we launched two national programmes with the Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission—the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges—aimed at building the capacity of officials from over 100 cities to create Healthy Streets. Through the Challenges, we’ve developed over 100 toolkits and conducted over 35 workshops over the last three years.

As part of the programmes, we wanted cities to create a realistic three-year action plan towards implementing Healthy Streets—which would include building the right institutional support for it and conducting campaigns to encourage a behaviour change among people to walk and cycle more. This time, we wanted to find a more hands-on way to do it. 

We decided to develop and test a game.

We launched the game at a national Healthy Streets Capacity Development Workshop bringing together officials from all the cities participating in the two programmes. Here’s how that went.

Learning from Games

Games have always been part of the urban planning process, especially when it comes to engaging with the community. Play the City, Imaginable Guidelines, and Kuwaitscapes are some examples from around the word that have helped various stakeholders better understand and design their cities. While this was the first time we were designing a game from scratch, this was not the first time we’ve used games to engage with city officials. We also looked at what we could learn from our own experiences in the past. Back in 2019, we designed a board game on pricing as a tool for parking management, based on a game developed by Dr.Paul Barter, a Singapore-based urban transport expert.

We studied these games to inform the development of our game and noticed some common desirable elements:

• Ensuring collaboration and participation – It is important to get participants to debate and discuss their ideas as they take key decisions together for a particular context.
• Playing the game in smaller groups – While playing in large groups, the voices of some players may not be heard. Smaller groups may help all players can have an equal opportunity to participate. 
• Creating space for players to add ideas – A new and innovative idea may come from anyone, and space to add their own ideas could lead players to be more actively involved in the game.

Keeping these learnings in mind, we started brainstorming to develop our new game.

Structuring our game

We wanted to build a game that can help city officials quickly identify clear actions they can take in a three-year period towards creating Healthy Streets in their cities. We also wanted them to understand the importance of updating this action plan at the end of every three years. This clarity helped us develop the format of the game:

• The game would be set in a fictional city of ‘Malgudi’ for which the participants would develop an action plan to create Healthy Streets. 
• Each team was handed a context card to help understand the setting better—with details about the city and its previous Healthy Streets initiatives.
• The game was to be played in three rounds, each round representing a year. 
• In each round, participants would choose a certain number of actions the city would take from a variety of options, with  a clear reasoning for each of them. 
• After each round, the participants would be given information to help them evaluate the actions they chose and inform their selection in the next round.

Getting to the details

Now, getting to the main part—detailing the game. We curated the game keeping five principles in mind:

1. Design the game to be simple enough to be understood and played quickly – For the participants to quickly grasp the game and use the time to have meaningful conversations, we designed it as a card-based game. We also focused on simplifying the design of the cards, making sure the information on the cards is brief, clear, and actionable.

^{The game’s playing cards deck}

2. Identify the key messages you want the participants to take away from the game – We wanted the participants to understand the goals they are setting and how to prioritise them in each round. The game play and the instructions were designed to ensure they received this information clearly after each round.

3. Create the space for players to make not-so-great decisions and learn from them – We wanted the participants to make “mistakes” but also give them an opportunity to learn from them and fix them in the next rounds.

4. Design the game to have no winners to reinforce that there is no right or wrong final outcome – The overall outcome was to create a three-year action plan to create Healthy Streets. The goal was to get the participants to develop their own action plans based on solid reasoning, not to get all of them to develop the same “right” plan!

5. Add an element of fun and excitement for the players – Who doesn’t like to have some fun while playing the game? We tried to find ways to get the participants excited about  the game by  using GIFs to simplify and explain the game rules in an engaging way and by adding bonus cards—blank cards for the participants to add their own out-of-the-box ideas to the game—that they could earn through the rounds!

^{Teams excited about being eligible for bonus cards}  

Finally, playing the game

20th Dec 2022, D-Day.

2 hours with 100+ city officials from 38 cities across the country.

We split the participants into teams of 10, with each team supported by a table moderator from our team. We had two facilitators who took the stage and introduced the entire game to the participants, and moderators for each table who helped the teams navigate the game. And then, the game began!   

^{Game room arrangement}

We were amazed to see that the format enabled them to jump right into the game, excited to figure out the action plans! The playful nature of the game brought out the child in the participants—including senior city officials—and we also witnessed participants excited not just to participate, but to debate and decide together, and also share their thought processes with the other teams—allowing their peers to also benefit from these insights.

^{Teams in the process of selecting their cards in a round}

^{Few more glimpses of the game being played by the participants}

^{A completed Healthy Streets Action plan displayed by one of the teams}

Way Forward

We hope the game will be a starting point for the cities to create robust and adaptive Healthy Streets Action Plans—living documents that evolve with the city in response to the needs of its citizens. 

Similarly, we want the game to evolve based on learnings from tests and feedback from the city officials who engage with it. As we move forward, we hope to keep building on the game—adding layers of real-world complexities into the game by including specific aspects of the urban decision-making process like budgeting and participatory planning—without losing sight of the principles we started designing it with.

As more Indian cities move towards creating Healthy Streets and embracing sustainable transport, we are certain that games can play a strong role in their learning journey. As we improve this game and develop new ones, we also look forward to supporting other organisations interested in developing or testing similar games for sustainable urban development. 

Happy gaming! 

Written by Smritika Srinivasan, Edited by Keshav Suryanarayanan

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2024 UPDATE: We revisited these predictions in January 2024 to take stock of progress in these five areas. Check it out here.

25 years. 

25 years is a long time. In the two-and-a-half decades since ITDP started working in India, we’ve been fortunate to have front-row seats to many milestones in the country’s sustainable transport journey. This is a look at just one eventful decade from 2010-2019. And the last three years definitely feel longer than they were, with the pandemic forcing to us to rethink many of the things we took for granted. 

As I think about this journey, I’m filled with two overwhelming feelings—gratitude and wonder. 

Looking back, we’re immensely grateful for the opportunities we’ve had, the support of our partners, the wisdom of leaders and mentors, and most importantly, the relentless hard work of our team.

Looking forward, I find myself wondering one thing—what will be ITDP India’s legacy? Our team recently started a strategy discussion with this question, and it was inspiring to see what everyone thought we should be remembered for. Many of these things we hope to achieve will take a few more years, but we wanted to begin this one with a clear understanding of why we do what we do, so we can plan how to move forward.And so, as we start this year, I want to share with you five things we hope to see happen in India in 2023:

01 | A renewed and long-term focus on sustainable transport at the national level

We’ve seen great progress with three national programmes we launched with the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)—the India Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and the Transport4All Challenges.

There are more big opportunities shaping up at the national level. At COP27, India submitted its Long Term Low Emission Development Strategy, with a focus on developing an integrated, efficient, and inclusive low-carbon transport system. The national government has decided to add three new missions for the implementation of its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), including one focussed on sustainable transport. Under India’s G20 Presidency, the country will host the Urban20 Engagement Group, providing a platform for cities from G20 countries to facilitate discussions on various important issues of urban development including sustainable mobility.

We hope to see this momentum build on the progress of current national programmes with the allocation of the funds required to scale up implementation of low carbon mobility infrastructure in cities across the country.

02 | Legislative support for safe, inclusive, and sustainable urban transport

Many states and cities have been developing policies and plans for sustainable transport. But in the absence of strong statutory backing, there is a risk of many of them remaining on paper. A legislative framework for sustainable mobility would show a commitment to ensuring that every individual—including children, women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups—has a right to access safe and affordable transport.

And we have examples to look at. In October 2020, Mexico included a universal right to safe mobility as an amendment to its Constitution to address the increasing number of people dying in road crashes. We don’t have to look that far, closer to home, Karnataka’s Directorate of Urban Land Transport submitted an Active Mobillity Bill to the State Legislative Assembly in 2022 that aims at  protecting the rights of pedestrians and cyclists across the state.

We may not become the first country to introduce such a framework at the national level, but if we do, it would guarantee the right to over 1.4 billion people. That’s over 17% of the world’s population and almost twice the number of people in the entire European Union!

This is the time. Let’s get this right.

03 | Cities embracing low emission zones for cleaner air

Air pollution can have several health impacts including respiratory illnesses such as asthma and increased risk of premature death, particularly from heart attacks and strokes. Air pollution contributes to almost one-fifth of all deaths in India. Transport is the fastest-growing source of carbon emissions in India, responsible for almost 15% of the country’s CO2 emissions, over 90% of which comes from road transport.

Some cities like Delhi and Pune have tried measures to restrict vehicles to address air quality, mostly when air pollution levels have spiked dangerously. But they have been one-off or stop-gap arrangements rather than part of a consistent strategy. Low emission zones (LEZ), can be an effective strategy to reduce transport emissions and improve air quality.

Cities like London have already demonstrated the effectiveness of LEZs. London launched an Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2019. Within 6 months of its launch, the city saw a drop of 31% in nitrogen oxides and 4% in CO2 emissions. London expanded the zone in 2021 to benefit over 4 million people, more than one-third of London’s population. The city will further expand the zone in 2023 to benefit 5 million more people.

The electric vehicle (EV) policies of many states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh already propose the implementing of LEZs to promote a shift towards cleaner vehicles. States should leverage existing supportive policies like the EV policies but also develop state-level roadmaps to support cities implementing LEZs.

Cities have an urgent need to clean up their air and create more liveable cities for their citizens, and LEZs can be one of their routes to get there.

04 | Incentives for a private sector transition to electric buses

In India, the private sector continues to serve the majority of public transport trips across the country, both formally and informally. While approximately 130,000 buses in India are operated by the public sector, about 1.9 million buses—over 14 times that number—are operated by the private sector. Given that private buses comprise over 90% of India’s bus fleet, electrification of the private sector has huge potential to reduce emissions from the bus sector.

The private sector currently operates with limited or no financial assistance from the government. Without financial assistance, the private companies will be unable to transition to electric mobility, and will continue to use polluting vehicles.

A dialogue between the private sector and public agencies and a supportive environment with financial assistance will be critical to accelerate a private sector transition to electric mobility.

05 | Geospatial data leveraged for urban transformation

The National Geospatial Policy 2022 was notified in December, which will create an enabling ecosystem for data collection, sharing, and analysis in the country. The policy envisions using geospatial technology and data as agents of transformation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and instill accountability and transparency at all levels of governance. Transport Networks, Buildings & Settlements, and Land cover & Land use are three of its 14 themes. Accurate and updated geospatial data can inform city planning and decision-making at the national, state, and local levels.

This citizen-centric policy will bolster the existing DataSmart Cities Programme of the Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA, launched to promote data-driven governance. 

We are at the cusp of a data analytics-led disruption where policy, investments, and infrastructure will  be rooted in data and evidence. We hope to see cities and states harnessing the power of data to guide their sustainable transport initiatives.

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We hope to see these things start to happen in 2023, and look forward to supporting the Government of India in their efforts to transform the country into a shining role model for sustainable transport. 

We leave you with a year-end roundup of what we did in 2022. 

And who better to hear from about our work last year than our team. Here’s a short recap from the ITDP India team:

Written by Aswathy Dilip, Managing Director of ITDP Pvt. Ltd., representing ITDP in India.

In 2022, we saw our actions over the year have a cascading effect and seen many things fall into place. It’s been a year of scaling up our work at the city, state, and national levels; experimenting with new tools—illustrations, games, and even skits; experimenting with new tools—illustrations, games, and even skits; strengthening relationships with multiple new partners!

Here’s a look at our top 10 wins for 2022:

01 | Launched a Healthy Cities Leaderboard to track the progress of cities through the India Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All Challenges!

We launched a Healthy Cities Leaderboard to track the progress of participating cities towards the goals set through the three national Challenges. We hope to see them learn from and be inspired by each other’s progress and speed ahead towards transforming their cities.

Here are some highlights from the leaderboard:

02 | Trained over 800 officials through 35 workshops, including 2 national workshops

Through the three national Challenges, we trained over 800 officials from over 40 cities to create Healthy Streets and improve their public transport systems.  We developed a range of resources for the cities; you can find the entire repository here. 
We conducted two national Healthy Streets workshops—in Bengaluru and Chandigarh—to bring together officials from all the cities participating in the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges, to build their capacity on various topics, and to create a space for active peer-to-peer learning.

03 | Created an illustrated Healthy Streets Vision: Translated into 10+ languages, Adopted by 9 cities

We need to redefine the relationship between our streets and people to ensure that everyone—regardless of age, gender, or physical ability—can move safely and comfortably and breathe clean air. We unveiled the Healthy Streets Vision to inspire cities to transform our streets into healthy and happy spaces for people. 

The Vision illustrates 10 things that make Healthy Streets. The vision is now translated into more than ten languages and adopted by 9 Indian cities!

04 | Experimented with new ways of communications: Designed a game and a skit on sustainable mobility!

Over the year, we experimented with new ways of communicating to engage with city officials and get them to interact with each other in new and interesting ways. We thank them for keeping an open mind and supporting these efforts. 

We developed a game and a skit for city officials and tested it at a national Healthy Streets workshop attended by over 130 city officials. It was great to see their enthusiastic response and engaged participation! 
Many of us in the ITDP India team are huge fans of games. We think they work well to get us to think strategically in creative ways and have fun along the way. So, when we started thinking of interactive ways of training city officials to create action plans for Healthy Streets in their cities, a game seemed obvious! We developed the Healthy Streets Action Plan game as a fun and participative way for city leaders to engage with the process.

We look forward to building on the game in 2023!

To effectively convey the nuances of multi-stakeholder campaigns like the Cycle2Work campaign we tested with cities, our team wrote and performed a skit—the first of its kind in a national workshop—to take the audience through the various steps involved in rolling out such a campaign. 

05 | Supported PMPML in adopting an ambitious 5-year vision for buses

On April 18th, PMPML launched Vision 2027 on Pune’s Bus Day 2022. 

By 2027, PMPML—the bus operator for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad—aims to provide sustainable urban mobility by making buses available near everyone to transform them into congestion and pollution-free cities. 

The vision aims for three things: 

06 | Developed and tested a Street Assessment Framework in Pune to be scaled up to cities across the country

We collaborated with the Pune Municipal Corporation to test the framework to assess their streets and identify areas in need of urgent improvement. The city launched the Walking and Cycle Analysis Report on 11th December, on Pune Pedestrians’ Day!

The framework helps cities measure the impact of street design projects on four principles:

1. Ease of movement
2. Safety
3. Universal Accessibility
4. Liveability

07 | Launched 3 reports on the status of e-mobility in India with ASRTU 

We partnered with the Association for Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) to launch three reports on the status of e-mobility in India. The reports aim to show emerging e-bus technology, electric informal public transport, and electric micro-mobility. 

We look forward to working with ASRTU to build the capacity of State Transport Undertakings (STUs) across the country.

08 | Developed state- and city-level recommendations for electric 3-wheelers in Tamil Nadu: Informed by surveys in 6 cities

To understand the gaps and barriers to electrification from the perspective of the 3-wheeler drivers, ITDP India conducted in-depth surveys of autorickshaw drivers in six cities and focus group discussions in three cities across Tamil Nadu. More than 2,600 autorickshaw drivers were interviewed, providing valuable insights into three-wheeler operations and the bottlenecks to transitioning to electric vehicles (EV). 

Informed by the findings from the surveys and discussions, ITDP India prepared a report on the electrification of 3-wheelers in Tamil Nadu, which included state-level recommendations to help overcome challenges related to EV adoption. We shared the recommendations with Guidance Tamil Nadu, an investment promotion agency under the State Industries Department, to inform the ongoing revision of the state EV Policy.

We also developed a detailed roadmap for the electrification of three-wheelers for Chennai. The roadmap identifies specific action points for the city to help overcome challenges related to adopting electric three-wheelers. We look forward to working with the city to accelerate the transition to electric mobility.

09 | Signed MoUs with 10 new partners

2022 was a great year for partnerships. We signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with national-level agencies such as the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) and Bus & Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) to support them on improving public and private bus operations at the national, state, and city levels, and with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to support cities across the country in implementing sustainable, equitable, and inclusive urban mobility.

We also signed MoUs with multiple city agencies, including the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, the Surat Municipal Corporation, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation & Nagpur Smart & Sustainable City Development Corporation Ltd., and the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd. 

In collaboration with the Council for Energy Environment and Water (CEEW) and Sandeep Gandhi Architects (SGA), we will be working to accelerate the electrification of public and private sector buses. 

We look forward to working with our partners to scale up transformation across the country.

10 | Supported the operationalising of CUMTA to transform Chennai’s transport systems

Bringing all key agencies and stakeholders related to mobility under a single roof, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) will ensure seamless integration and implementation of all transport projects in Chennai. In 2022, CUMTA set up four sub-committees to focus on specific areas: multi-model integration, road safety, digital integration, and mobility resilience.

As a knowledge partner to CUMTA, we are supporting them in the activities of the sub-committees, identifying gaps in the status quo, strategising priority actions for improvement, and building capacity. In the first Authority Meeting chaired by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, two priority areas were identified: Common Ticketing System for Public Transport and Safe Commute for Students.

We look forward to supporting CUMTA towards the vision of a safe, smart and sustainable transportation system in Chennai.

We take this moment to acknowledge the contributions of our many partners, who make our work and wins possible. Our deepest gratitude to our funders for supporting our work. Our heartfelt thanks to the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Government officials—at the national, state, and city levels—for collaborating with us to create a walking, cycling, and public transport transformation in India. We’d also like to thank the sustainable transport community—NGOs, consultants, mobility experts, academic institutes, CSOs, and individuals—who make things happen on-ground. 

In 2022, the ITDP India team also expanded and grew stronger, united in our mission to create Healthy Streets, Healthy Cities and Happy Lives.

We look forward to seeing where 2023 takes us!

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Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, in the presence of Shri. Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA, Shri. Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA, and Shri. Rahul Kapoor, Director, Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA; launched the Stage 2 of the Transport4All Challenge, inviting Indian startups to create digital solutions to reform formal and informal public transport in India.

About Stage 1

More than 130 cities signed up for Stage 1 of the Challenge, launched on 15th April 2021. 100 cities formed a Transport4All Task Force (TTF) with key government stakeholders and governments working in the transport sector, along with academic institutes, non-profit organizations, and IPT unions. Check out the highlights from Stage 1.

Stage 1 saw the biggest public transport data exercise in the country with surveys from 46 cities. These cities successfully conducted surveys with more than 2 lakh citizens, 15,000 bus drivers and conductors and 22,000 informal public transport (autos etc) drivers— making it the biggest public transport data exercise in the country.

These cities—who qualify for Stage 2 of the Challenge—used the surveys findings to develop more than 165 problem statements, that is now curated into a final list of 8 problem statements by the Challenge team.

What next?

Stage-2 of the Challenge is open for startups to develop solutions for the issues and problems identified by the cities.

Startups are now invited to develop contextual solutions and scale them up at a national level for the 8 curated statements. Cities and startups will receive guidance to develop and test various solutions, learn from them, and scale them to build people’s trust in public transport and enhance their mobility. 

The top 1-2 solutions for each problem statement will not only receive awards of up to ₹ 20 lakhs but will have the opportunity to scale up solutions at a national level. 

The startups with working solutions stand to get empanelled with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and access many opportunities to implement their solutions in several cities in the future.

Are you a startup or do you know startups that would like to get involved in a national-level challenge to make a difference in Public Transport?

Head to the Startup India portal and register, before 30th December 2022.

Startups now can get their DPIIT registration till 15th January 2023.

For more information, visit transport4all.in

Where are we in the Three Stages of the Challenge?

The Transport4All through Digital Innovation Challenge comprises three stages:

● Stage I PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: Cities, with the support of NGOs, identify key recurring problems that citizens and public transport operators face

● Stage II SOLUTION GENERATION: Startups develop prototypes of solutions to improve public transport with inputs from cities and NGOs

● Stage III PILOT TESTING: Cities engage startups for large-scale pilots and refine the solutions based on citizen feedback

We look forward to the brightest minds in the country developing solutions to the pressing problems identified by the public to improve facilities for a better future in formal and informal public transport.

We’d like to acknowledge the leadership of the Ministry of Housing and Affairs, Smart Cities Mission, Urban Transport and Association for State Road Transport Undertakings—hosts for the Transport4All Digital Innovation Challenge. We thank our knowledge partners, the World Bank, for bringing their global technical expertise in digital innovation and guiding startups and cities. We also thank the technology platform partners, Ci^x and Startup India, for engaging with startups and for providing a platform for cities and startups to collaborate easily. 

As Co-host and Coordinator for the Challenge, ITDP India provides technical and communication expertise to cities, facilitates capacity-building workshops and one-on-one sessions with them, and sets up peer-learning platforms so cities can learn from one another.

This blog is part three of the “Embracing E-buses” series. To read the previous two parts, click here.

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India’s great electrification wave is here. It’s everywhere you look, and for all the right reasons. Since PM Narendra Modi’s declaration of a new climate target at COP26—pledging to cut India’s total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, and going net zero by 2070—many Indian cities are prioritising a shift to electric technology. Especially in road transport, which is responsible for 14% of overall carbon emissions in the country.

Indian cities are developing roadmaps to transition to e-buses, but there’s one catch: e-buses don’t come cheap. Priced anywhere between 75 lakhs (USD 93,670) to 1.75 crores (USD 218,500) depending on the bus size and range with a good return of investment over its lifetime, e-buses are desired by all, but affordable only by a few. With e-buses, which are 2.5-3 times the cost of the conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) buses, the upfront purchasing cost poses a major roadblock for operators in owning and operating them. Since 2015, there has been a considerable push from the Government of India to adopt electric vehicles, through the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) I and subsequent FAME II scheme by Department of Heavy Industries (DHI). 

With a total outlay of Rs 10,000 crores, the FAME II scheme aims to accelerate the transition to vehicles and curb transport emissions, by subsidising 7000 e-buses; 5 lakh e-autorickshaws; 55,000 e-cars (including strong hybrid that consists of both combustion engine and battery powered motored), and 10 lakh e-scooters/motorbikes. So far, 5595 buses have been subsidised. State Transport Undertakings—the public entity that manages the operation of buses at the state level—are currently operating 2100 e-buses across India.

While the scheme to financially support STUs for e-bus transition is commendable, an important player seems to have been left behind: private bus operators. It may seem hard to believe, but private buses comprise more than 90% of all buses in the country. As per the Road Transport Year Book (2018-19) by MoRTH, while there are 1.5 lakh public sector buses, operated by various STUS, and about 20 lakh private sector buses.

The sheer volume of private buses on our roads demands that an electrification plan be developed for them. The government’s electrification efforts HAS to penetrate the entire road transport sector, including the private bus industry. E-buses are more cost-efficient to operate compared to diesel/CNG buses, they have a drastically lower environmental footprint as they require lower energy/km to operate, and they emit zero tailpipe emissions, as the only by-product that comes out of the tailpipe is water vapour. E-buses also require lesser maintenance, reducing the maintenance cost and the overall financial cost of operating them.

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To better understand the challenges of the private bus sector, ITDP India spoke with the Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) and other private operators. Here’s what we found:

High upfront capital cost of e-buses, with no subsidy: The high capital cost of e-buses makes it very difficult for private operators to purchase e-buses. Without any subsidy programme from the government, there is no easy leaping for private players into electrifying their fleet.  

Low range of electric buses: Currently, e-buses have a range of 250 to 300 km, whereas, for viable intercity bus operation, e-buses need to cover 600 to 700km with opportunity charging in between. The range has a direct impact on the electrification of these routes. If the range is low, the number of charging cycles will increase, lowering the life span of the battery. This means a need for battery replacement fairly soon.

Difficulty in setting up infrastructure: Setting up charging infrastructure is critical for the private sector to transition to e-buses. Issues in sourcing adequate power supply and setting up charging stations with the current land costs are major concerns.

Unviable financing options: The high capital cost of e-buses, clubbed with a short loan repayment period at high-interest rates, makes it hard for operators to manage the initial four to five years.

Battery replacement costs: After seven to eight years of running the e-bus, the operator has to bear an additional battery replacement cost, that requires a huge intermediate investment.

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E-buses offer a better journey experience, both for the passengers and the drivers. “E-buses have lesser moving parts than the ICE buses, and hence require less maintenance—which makes the maintenance staff happy. E-buses are much easier to drive than ICE buses—which makes drivers happy. E-buses provide a smoother ride with lesser vibrations and noise inside the bus—making passengers happy. Since everyone is happy, there is no reason that e-buses would not succeed”, says Mr Sanyam Gandhi, director of Chartered Speed Ltd., a private entity operating public buses in many cities.

Here are some of ITDP India’s recommendations to enable a successful transition to e-buses for private sector.

Supporting the set up of charging stations through private and public partnership:

The government can support and incentivise setting up charging stations by engaging electricity distribution companies and private sectors, so long as land can be provided within the terminal facilities. The government should initiate dialogue with the private sector to understand their aspirations and requirements to set up charging stations.

Revising the financing mechanism:

Although the cost of an e-bus is two to three times the cost of an ICE bus, the financing tenure offered to the operators for both ICE and e-bus is the same, which is 5 years, which drives up the initial cost to the operator. Since there is no priority funding for e-buses, the interest rate is high. In order to make the financing favourable for private operators, a mandate from the government or RBI stating that e-buses should be financed for a longer period of time needs to be provided.

Incentivise the private sector to offset the high capital cost of e-bus:

While private operators want to shift to e-buses, current policies do not have any subsidies or incentives for them to do this transition without bearing the high costs of outright purchase. The government can explore the possibility of providing incentives to private operators for electrification, either directly or through development banks. These financial institutions can support the state by providing long-term loans/grants at low-interest.

Revising the permit structure to allow the operation of leased buses:

Currently, the permit requirements do not allow the operation of buses on lease. Government, in consultation with other relevant departments and agencies, can work to amend these stringent clauses to support e-bus operation by the private sector.

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Buses, whether operated by government entities or privately, are one of the most affordable and environment-friendly way of moving people from point A to B. E-buses, are even better. As India continues its electrification revolution, voices from all stakeholders need to be captured to create systems and policies that benefit everyone. Going forward, it is critical to understand the perspective of e-bus OEMs, financial institutes, power distribution companies, and most importantly, the government to chart a way holistic vision for e-buses in India, only then can we truly “embrace e-buses”.

Written by: Aishwarya Soni
With inputs from: Faraz Ahmad, Dhruv Soni, and Vaishali Singh

This blog is part two of the “Embracing E-buses” series. To read part one titled “Where does India stand in its e-bus transition?”, click here.

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India got its first ever e-bus in 2014. As of today, there are just about 2,000 e-buses being operated in Indian cities. The transition to e-buses in India has faced some challenges, including its procurement models, that has limited the pace and expansion of electrification. To ensure India meets the ambitious targets it has set for electric mobility, we need to review the procurement models.
Of these models, the Gross Cost Contracting (GCC) model has many advantages for cities, and some challenges. And we need to understand them if we want to overcome the challenges of operating buses—and specifically e-buses—in India.

What we need today is an improved GCC model (hereon referred to as GCC+), which can address the challenges faced under the GCC model, and help both the operators and the STUs run seamless e-bus operations.

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What is the GCC model?

Indian cities either follow an owner-operator model—where the city bus agency owns and operates the buses—or outsources bus operations. This outsourcing is done primarily through one of four models, including:

In the first three models, the investment to acquire the buses is done by the operator whereas in the management contracting, the buses are provided to the operator. In India, cities have mostly used NCC and GCC contract models besides the owner-operator model.

The GCC model requires the operator to procure the e-buses as well as implement the charging infrastructure, which saves cash-starved state transport undertakings (STUs) from making the initial capital investment. For its troubles, the operator is paid based on the number of kilometres the buses are operated.

Before we go into what a GCC+ model can look like, we need to understand the challenges of the current model, starting from the beginning of e-bus procurement in Indian cities.

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The beginning: E-bus procurement under FAME-I Scheme

Battery Electric Bus (e-bus) procurements in India started in earnest with the announcement of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-I) Scheme by the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Government of India (GoI) and NITI Aayog in 2015. In the FAME-I scheme, cities had the option to either procure the buses outright or or procure the bus operating service via the GCC route.

10 cities applied for subsidy under FAME-I, out of which five preferred outright procurement and the remaining five opted for the GCC model. Most of these tenders were for 15-40 buses per city. All the outright procurement tenders were successfully placed, although there were delays in delivery by manufacturers as well as in arranging necessary depot and power infrastructure. But all the GCC tenders (except one—Hyderabad) were cancelled due to a variety of reasons. But simultaneously, some other cities—such as Ahmedabad and Pune—were also able to successfully procure e-buses based on a GCC tender, though this was outside the FAME scheme.

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The next phase under FAME-II

FAME-II—an expanded version of the FAME scheme—was announced in 2019, envisaging procurement of 7,090 e-buses. DHI decided to allow only GCC contracts in FAME II. 

Under FAME-II, GoI initially allocated 5,095 buses to 64 cities. Additionally, it also allocated 400 buses for intercity operations, and 100 buses for last-mile connectivity. By December 2021, 18 cities had awarded GCC contracts for 2,965 e-buses. But there was a lot of variation in the bids. 

A few cities had to rebid the tenders due to a lack of response or bid prices higher than expected. Only one state—Uttar Pradesh—conducted a joint procurement for multiple cities, while the rest were tendered for individual STUs. A few cities received per km rates of less than ₹50 whereas some received bids more than ₹80. 

The following factors can be attributed for this variation:

To bring down the per km price, the Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL)—an arm of the state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.—was tasked to aggregate the demand and float a combined tender on behalf of 9 eligible cities.

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Why the tender by CESL was a success in reducing bus procurement cost

The Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) tender for 5,450 e-buses that closed in April 2022, is by far the largest tender for e-buses in India. Through a process called Grand Challenge – I (GC-I), CESL was able to homogenise the contract conditions and aggregate the requirements of five out of nine cities eligible to access the government incentives (Table 1).

The GC-1 tender resulted in prices reducing 15% to 48%, compared to prices paid in the past. In fact, the prices through this tender were lower than even those of the diesel/CNG buses. 

However, almost every city preferred buses of a different specification, somewhat reducing the benefit of demand aggregation to achieve economies of scale. Reducing the number of bus categories could have increased the benefits even further, although easier said than done. 

The key factors that facilitated the reduction in costs were:

One of these factors —economy of scale—is worth exploring in greater detail.

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Benefit of economies of scale

Recent e-bus tenders show that bidders favoured larger procurements (seen in Table 2). Even with the same level of subsidy, a larger number of buses allows for lower per km rates. 

Despite the maximum subsidy, the bid price for DIMTS tender was the highest whereas the CESL and BEST tenders received the lowest bids even though lower subsidies were offered. Similarly, the subsidy for 9m buses for Nagpur was at least as much as the subsidy available under the CESL tender and yet the bid price was much higher.

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Limitations of the current procurement model

The CESL GC-1 tender and the BEST tender are important milestones in India’s electrification of public transport and have raised the expectations of a continued fall in e-bus per km rates similar to the solar energy price trajectory. Based on the initial success, CESL is targeting to procure 50,000 e-buses over the next 5 years. This means that many more cities will go through the next rounds of procurement. CESL must overcome the following challenges in order to aggregate the demand and achieve even lower e-bus prices:

1. Many cities manage and operate their own fleet and the current GCC model may not suit them.
2. Participating cities may have differing requirements (e.g. requirements of cities vary widely in terms of bus capacity, daily running, air-conditioning, terrain, floor height etc.). This makes it difficult for them to agree on common specifications, which is crucial for achieving economies of scale to reduce the cost of e-bus procurement. 
3. As per the eligibility criteria stipulated for availing FAME-II subsidy, either an e-bus original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or a consortium led by an OEM should be the bidder; or the bidder must have a prior agreement with an OEM to participate in the tender wherein the OEM is required to co-sign the operating agreement afterwards. OEMs prefer to just sell buses, not operate them, since operating city buses carries substantially higher risks. Involving the OEM  in operation of the e-buses in the FAME-I and FAME-II was necessary considering the lack of experience with e-buses, but the OEMs are running out of capacity to take on this additional responsibility in order to sell more buses. It is likely that they would sub-contract the operations resulting in increased contractual risks, and pricing inefficiencies. Besides, this requirement severely limits the number of bidding participants as seen in previous tenders and may prove detrimental for future tender outcomes.
4. With respect to GCC, cities have different levels of credibility based on their track record of working with operators on aspects like finances, contract management etc. This affects which cities OEMs want to work with. In bulk procurement, the OEMs cannot pick and choose the cities they work with. When forced to choose between working with all cities or none in a given category, OEMs may choose to work with none by not bidding at all.
5. E-bus operations have a very high component of fixed expenses, but the current revenue structure, based on the number of kilometres of running, is entirely variable. This creates a contractual risk for the operators since they do not have full control over actual running of the buses.

As mentioned earlier, CESL has achieved considerable optimisation in the GCC model adapted from the operation of diesel buses. What more can be done to overcome the above challenges?

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GCC+ — An alternate compensation/contracting structure to further optimise the GCC Model

Revenue risks often contribute significantly to the overall risk of any business. Aligning the compensation structure to the cost drivers can overcome some of the challenges mentioned above in addition to reducing contractual risks.
This can be achieved by splitting the compensation into following components:

The Bus Availability Fee would primarily depend on the bus specifications and can be homogenised across cities. The Bus Operating Fee can be customised for each city based on local parameters, scale of operations etc. 

This structure can help make the contracting process more flexible for both the STU and the operator. The bus operating component can be made optional so that the STUs who prefer to run the operations may choose only the Bus Availability component (effectively a wet-lease contract). Further, the duration of the two components can even be separate with the Bus Availability contract being of a longer duration while the Bus Operation contract is of shorter duration. 

For example, a similar arrangement is seen in case of  Transmilenio (Bogota) where the procurement of E-bus is split into three parts –

This structure would have many advantages, including:

1. Significantly lower operating risks for the bus provider – The fixed payment eliminates the operating risks to the bus provider other than equipment related risks which can be managed through a contract with the OEM. The operator may even be able to procure the bus on lease.
2. Maximising clean transportation – The apparent variable cost for the STUs under the proposed structure will be much lower than that of the diesel bus since the energy cost of e-bus is much lower than its diesel counterparts. This will incentivise the STUs to maximise e-bus operations.
3. Potential to lower the cost of funds – With a stronger payment security structure, the fixed monthly e-bus availability payments can be securitised and financed at a lower rate. For example, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in conjunction with RBI and Ministry of Power, GoI and the respective state governments has set up a facility for tapping the central devolution of funds to the states to make payment to the power producers in the event of a default by the state-owned utilities. CESL could consider the same to strengthen the payment security mechanism for the e-bus operators. Such an arrangement could actually reduce the subsidy payments from the state governments to the STUs. Another avenue for reducing risk will be to insure/guarantee termination payments.
4. Simplified contract administration – The bid document need not specify any minimum assured kilometres and compensation in the event of over/under achievement, thus simplifying contract administration as well as risk of STUs to pay for under-utilisation.
5. Simpler computation of termination payments – In case of early termination, the operator mainly loses out on the investment component for the remaining period.  With the split compensation structure, a net present value of the future availability fees together with a demobilisation fee could be sufficient compensation.  
6. Potential to lower the capacity costs – With reduced operating risks, the bus provider would be willing to enter into a longer contract period, thus reducing the annual costs further.

Risk: The above split contractual structure, the onus will be on the STUs to ensure optimum utilisation of the e-bus failing which the effective cost could be even more than the current structure. Also, there may be implications on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) payable by the operators/STUs in case bus provision and operations are contracted separately.

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Summing up: Why GCC+

The GCC model of procuring and operating e-buses has some advantages and a few challenges for the cities. We can start addressing some of the challenges by creating a GCC+ model— a split compensation structure that would bring several advantages for the STUs and operators, including lower risks and costs. This will go a long way towards enabling STUs and operators to move faster towards the adoption and operation of e-buses. India is well on its way on the path to electrification of buses, and the GCC+ model can help smoothen the way.

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References

1. https://www.uitp.org/news/aggregation-delivers-more-savings-than-subsidy-in-recent-indian-electric-bus-tenders/ accessed June 18, 2022
2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lowest-ever-prices-in-e-buses-tender-cesl/articleshow/91112542.cms accessed June 18, 2022
3. WRI Blog 
4. https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/commercial-vehicle/mhcv/another-round-of-price-discovery-for-10000-e-buses-coming-soon-adviser-niti-aayog/91172608, accessed June 18, 2022
5. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/renewables/cesl-plans-mega-tender-of-50000-e-buses-over-5-years/articleshow/91948742.cms?from=mdr accessed June 18, 2022
6. Fiscal Incentives to scale up adoption of electric buses in Indian cities; UITP and Shakti Foundation, March 2019

Written by: Sutanu Pati
Edited by: Keshav Suryanarayanan
The opinions presented in the blog are of the author.

Sutanu Pati has over 25 years experience in the fields of transportation, e-mobility, and energy. His areas of expertise include financing, procurement, and public-private partnerships. He is currently engaged as an independent consultant with national and international organisations such as ITDP, WRI, GIZ, RITES, UMTC etc.

Across India, a paradigm shift is happening. Cities are reimagining their streets, as places for people and not just for cars; redefining streets as destinations, and not just a by-pass; redesigning streets to create a thriving environment where everyone can experience their streets in a fun and safe way, at all times, day or night. The result? People love it, and many more are embracing walking and cycling, enjoying their time on the streets!

This is the start of the #HealthyStreets movement—that aims to reduce congestion, air & noise pollution, and carbon emissions across Indian cities. Healthy Streets ensures that everyone—be it an 8-year-old or an 80-year-old—can move safely and comfortably, and breathe clean air. Here’s an illustrated guide of 10 things that make a Healthy Street!

The transformation is happening, slowly but surely. Here are a few cities that have embarked on the #HealthyStreets movement, and are now an inspiration for many other cities to follow too.

Road space is limited, and presently, most of it is occupied by personal motor vehicles—such as cars and two-wheelers. We must ensure that all kinds of users—whether they are on foot, cycling, or using public transport—get an equitable allocation of the road space.

In 2015, road transport emissions contributed to 74,000 premature deaths in India. Unfortunately, people who face the grave consequences of polluted air are not even the ones who cause or contribute to it. With zero emission modes like walking and cycling, and low emission shared modes such as e-buses and e-rickshaws that use clean vehicle technology, cities can move closer to breathing air that’s healthy.

According to a World Bank report published in 2021, India has the highest number of casualties in road crashes—there are 53 road accidents in the country every hour and one death every four minutes. Road crashes claim the lives of about 1,50,000 people and disable at least an additional 7,50,000 each year, a large share of which are pedestrians and cyclists, mainly representing working-age adults from the poorer strata of society.

This is easily preventable—by designing safe streets and strictly enforcing road rules. Cities should design streets that reduce conflicts between motor vehicles and vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists and encourage safe driving.

The two simplest, most affordable modes of transport deserve to be a comfortable experience for everyone. When walking and cycling is made safe and attractive—with wide, continuous footpaths, segregated cycle tracks, regulated on-street parking, managed vending, shaded seaters, and play zones—everyone would choose to walk and cycle instead!

Public transport is the pulse of every city that has the power to connect people to opportunities. 70% of Delhiites use public transport to commute to work, as per the 2019 Socio-Economic Survey report. Public transport, especially buses, is often the most affordable means of transport for the majority, especially for women. Most of these public transport trips typically start or end with a walk, or on a cycle.

By ensuring that public transport services are within easy reach and interconnected by walking and cycling facilities, and that stops provide safe shelter for everyone at all times, would enable more people to use the services conveniently.

Our streets need to cater to people of all demographics, age groups, and abilities. A large group of our population: caregivers with infants and toddlers; the elderly; and people with disabilities—are often left out in urban design and transport planning, severely impacting their independent mobility.

Cities must ensure that transport infrastructure meets the needs of these vulnerable groups, by ensuring streets and public transport are universally accessible.

An article by Safetipin notes that street harassment disproportionately affects women throughout their lives. It is part of a larger epidemic of violence posing a significant threat to women’s autonomy, and ultimately, it becomes a violation of consent in public, driving women to retreat to private spaces and curtailing their freedom. 

Vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly need to feel safe on our streets and in public spaces. Cities must eliminate opportunities for crime on their streets through programming, better design, ample lighting, and activity management. 

Streets are important social spaces that enable us to interact with other people and the environment.

Cities must think of streets as vibrant public spaces that invite everyone—including women, children and the elderly—to spend more time outdoors and socialise, thus improving the mental and physical well-being of citizens. When streets are designed for walking and cycling, they become platforms for unplanned interactions and help foster a sense of community.

There is a strong correlation between well-designed streets and its impact on local businesses. When streets allow people to move comfortably without any conflicts with traffic, are well shaded, and have amenities for them to sit and rest, they tend to spend much more time on the street, which results in a sales boost for local vendors and shops. Cities can enhance livelihoods by integrating street vending and local retail businesses in street design.

It isn’t uncommon to see streets inundated with water, following a spell of heavy rains. Footpaths get slippery, posing a risk for the ones who are running for shelter. Our streets need to be resilient to such weather changes and be usable by people all year round.

Cities need to use materials and designs that enhance the life of infrastructure, ease maintenance, and are responsive to the environment. Underneath the footpath, utility lines such as water supply, electricity, street lighting and other fixtures, stormwater, sewage, and telecommunications must be routed via ducts or trenches, accessed through conveniently placed manholes. Gratings that lead to catchment pits should be provided. Cities must also choose the right kind of surface treatment to ensure footpaths are durable and long-lasting.

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Through the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenge—an initiative of the Smart Cities Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and ITDP India—39 cities are accelerating their transformation towards creating #HealthyStreets. With the test-learn-scale mantra, cities are working with residents and experts to implement permanent walking and cycling-friendly infrastructure, create institutional reforms, and build momentum for more walking and cycling-centric cities.

With such widespread enthusiasm for creating people-friendly cities in India, we hope to see many more paragons of #HealthyStreets in the future! Stay tuned.