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With multiple city-level wins, publications, events, training workshops, and partnerships, 2023 has been a fulfilling year! 

Here’s a photo-story of five highlights from 2023: 

We look forward to seeing where 2024 takes us!

Written by Keshav Suryanarayanan
Designed by Varsha Jeyapandi

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With a strong focus on improving public transport systems across India, we launched six new publications last year.

Of these, we launched four publications in collaboration with the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU)—the apex body for public bus operators across the country. This included two ambitious and comprehensive guidebooks—Reaching Your Riders and E-Bus Basics—and two reports on public-private partnerships and e-bus procurement in Maharashtra.

We also collaborated with the University of California, Davis on a report—Compact Cities Electrified: India—that showed that meeting India’s climate commitments will require a combination of two strategies—rapid vehicle electrification and compact cities that can accelerate a shift to less polluting modes. 

To share the insights from the report and kickstart a nationwide conversation on compact electrified cities, ITDP India presented the report at a round table on ‘Compact Cities: Pathways toward India’s Sustainable Future’ at the Urban Mobility India Conference 2023 in October. This session, anchored by the Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs, included various key stakeholders—including national, state, and city-level officials, development banks, and technical experts.

With the National Payments Council of India and the Institute of Urban Transport, we launched a report on the National Common Mobility Card at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai in September 2023.

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport is crucial to meet India’s climate action commitments and limit future global warming to 1.5°C. This is especially urgent amidst recurring hazardous air quality crises in Delhi, Mumbai, and other major Indian cities. The road transport sector, one of the main sources of air pollution in nearly every Indian city, requires immediate attention and action. 

A new report by ITDP and the University of California, Davis—the Compact Cities Electrified: India roadmap—shows that the solution lies in developing compact and dense cities that can shift most trips to less polluting modes like walking, cycling, and public transport while simultaneously facilitating a rapid electrification of all vehicle modes. Adopting these combined strategies could potentially save the Indian government over INR 150 lakh crore in the next 30 years and result in lower travel costs, and a reduction in projected energy demand by almost one-third, not to mention more resilient, equitable, and sustainable cities.

The study outlines four possible scenarios for the next 30 years of urban passenger transport and resulting emissions in India: 

1. Business as Usual – A continuation along India’s current trajectory toward a car-oriented society powered by fossil fuels. 
2. Mode Shift (Only):– Cities embrace compact land-use policy and redesign transport systems to make walking, cycling, and public transport use as easy as car use.
3. Electrification (Only):– Cities pursue EVs intensely and almost exclusively as the strategy for decarbonising.
4. Electrification + Shift:– Combination of high electrification and high shift. Extensive electrification of public and private vehicles and a shift in city designs to prioritise non-motorised transportation. 

The research shows that neither strategy on its own is capable of reducing emissions to a level compatible with limiting future global warming to 1.5°C. India will require both strategies—Electrification + Shift—to meet its Paris Agreement commitments and its goal of achieving Net Zero by 2070.

Why does India need Compact Electrified Cities? 

Recent air quality reports have identified India as the source of approximately 59% of the world’s increased pollution since 2013. Transport is the most rapidly growing source of emissions in the country, accounting for roughly a tenth of the overall emissions. Road transport makes up a whopping 90 percent of this, with the number of vehicles on the road increasing about four-fold since the early 2000s. 

Despite this, Indian cities persist in prioritising personal motor vehicles, consequently creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists and inadequately meeting the demand for high-quality public transport. Addressing emissions and enhancing urban life quality in these cities is a critical need. With the United Nations projecting a near doubling of India’s urban population between 2020 and 2050, signifying nearly half of the urban areas in India will be newly built in the next 30 years. As this happens, it is especially important to avoid replicating the models of car-centric urban development. 

Investing in creating compact electrified cities will not only ensure India meets its climate commitments, but result in massive economic savings and reduced travel costs for residents of Indian cities. Over the next 30 years, the Electrification + Shift approach could generate over INR 400 lakh crore in cumulative savings, including at least INR 150 lakh crore for national, state, and city governments. This funding could be redirected to invest in critical sectors like public health and education. Additionally, combining EVs and compact cities would decrease projected energy demand by almost one-third, freeing up electricity for consumers or for other energy-intensive aspects of development.

In addition to savings and lowered energy demand, creating compact electrified cities would also facilitate economic inclusion, reduce air pollution, and minimise road fatalities.

India’s roadmap to CCE

The Compact Cities Electrified: India report provides a country-specific roadmap for India, estimating the quantities and costs of infrastructure needed for the transition and the potential impacts over the next 30 years. The report highlights seven critical goals which require strong action from governments at all levels—including ensuring every citizen gets a fair share of road space; improving walking, cycling, and public transport; and accelerating the adoption of green mobility. To check out the roadmap for India, read the full report here. 

While the scale of transformation required is massive, it is not unprecedented. Paris decreased car travel by almost 50% in 30 years by investing in other modes and traffic control strategies. Similarly, Jakarta, Tehran, and Bogotá have each built public transport systems catering to over a million riders a day in under 15 years. Indian cities have the potential to achieve this too.  

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To share the insights from the report and kickstart a nationwide conversation on compact electrified cities, ITDP India presented the report at a round table on ‘Compact Cities: Pathways toward India’s Sustainable Future’ at the Urban Mobility India Conference 2023 in October. This session, anchored by the Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs, included various key stakeholders—including national, state, and city-level officials, development banks, and technical experts. You can read more about the discussion and key takeaways in this graphic blog.

Written by Arunima Kar

Edited by Keshav Suryanarayanan

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Imagine a day where taking a bus is a hassle-free experience. Routes and schedules are at your fingertips on your phones. Waiting times are shorter, and you know exactly how long you must wait for the next bus. Planning your trip requires no guesswork. Commuting is no longer a pain but something you look forward to. 

We’re one step closer to that day as we successfully wrap up Stage 2 of the Transport4All Challenge and head into Stage 3. 

Digital innovations can transform our public transport systems by equipping passengers with the right information, providing them with avenues to raise concerns, and, most importantly, getting passengers wherever they want on time, comfortably and safely. In April 2021, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Smart Cities mission launched the #Transport 4All🚍Challenge to bring together cities, startups, and citizens to develop digital solutions to transform public transport systems across the country. 

Stage 2 wrapped with the announcement of the top 10 winning startups who work with cities across the country to test out solutions developed by them to address eight problem statements developed by the cities in Stage 1.

Shortlisting Startups

To recap, the Transport4All Challenge was envisioned in three stages.

Stage 1

In Stage 1, we saw 46 cities conduct the country’s largest public transport data exercise with surveys with more than 2 lakh citizens, 15,000 bus drivers and conductors, and 22,000 informal public transport drivers. Based on the survey findings, cities developed more than 165 problem statements, which were then curated into 8 problem statements by the Challenge team, marking the end of Stage 1 in October 2022.

These 46 champion cities qualified for stage 2 of the challenge.

Stage 2 

In Stage 2—the Solution Generation stage—these cities worked with 70 startup applications shortlisted from over 160 applications. The goal was to create innovative and impactful digital solutions that could address the eight problem statements identified through the Stage 1 surveys.

Over the course of Stage 2, the Challenge team conducted 10+ workshops, 45+ one-on-one mentoring sessions, and 400+ calls to the startups and cities to support them in developing their solutions. The shortlisted startups proposed 45 solutions for the eight problem statements identified by the cities. 

Of these, the top 24 startups were selected by a panel of eminent experts. 

The 24 selected startups showcased their solutions to the 46 champion cities during the ‘Technological Solution Showcase’ held in August 2023. Based on the combined evaluation of the jury and the cities, the top 10 startups were declared winners of Stage 2. 

What’s next: Full speed ahead into Stage 3

In Stage 3—the Pilot Testing stage—the top 10 startups will engage with cities to pilot and refine the proposals based on citizen feedback. The Challenge team and mentors will guide the startups through this phase. The winning startups will also receive a reward of up to ₹20 lakhs based on the problem statement for completing various milestones in Stage 3 of the challenge. 

After three months of piloting, startups and cities will present the pilot results to the jury of experts for evaluation. MoHUA will showcase the successful startups and their solutions on the City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform to enable cities to procure their product/services. 

We applaud the leadership of the Ministry of Housing and Affairs Smart Cities Mission and Urban Transport and the Association for State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU)—hosts for the Transport4All Digital Innovation Challenge. We thank our knowledge partner, the World Bank, for bringing their global technical expertise to digital innovation and guiding startups and cities. We also thank the technology platform partners—Cix and Startup India—for engaging with startups and providing a platform for cities and startups to collaborate efficiently. 

We look forward to working with the selected startups and cities to scale up the transformation of public transport systems across the country!

On 16th August 2023, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). Mr.Jeyakumar, IRTS, Member Secretary/Special Officer, CUMTA, signed the MOU with Ms.Aswathy Dilip, Managing Director, ITDP India in the presence of Ms.Apoorva, IAS, the Principal Secretary to the Government, Housing and Urban Development Department. Bringing all key agencies and stakeholders related to mobility under a single roof, CUMTA ensures seamless integration and implementation of all transport projects across various modes in Chennai. 

As part of the engagement, ITDP will support CUMTA in embracing an approach of prioritising sustainable mobility—especially ensuring seamless multi-modal integration between various modes of transport; improving road safety of citizens while they use and shift between the various modes; and regulate private vehicle usage through efficient parking management.

The success of this approach requires two things—improved capacity of the city to plan and implement sustainable mobility initiatives and increased public suppport. To this effect, ITDP will provide technical expertise for projects, drawing from its experience of working with over 100 cities worldwide, and support CUMTA in facilitating workshops and knowledge exchange with local international agencies to share best practice and learnings. ITDP will also support CUMTA to develop and roll out communications and outreach activities to improve public understanding and support for these initiatives. 

This engagement is a significant milestone on the city’s journey towards building a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive transport future for all its citizens and we look forward to supporting CUMTA in their efforts. 

This blog is part 2 of the ‘Communicating Public Transport’ series. Check out part 1 here.

As part of ITDP India’s ongoing public transport communications and marketing research, we visited Bhubaneswar to experience and learn from Capital Region Urban Transport’s (CRUT) MOBus System. One of India’s most appreciated bus systems, the efforts by CRUT have been recognised globally, and the agency recently received the prestigious Sustainable Transport Award – Honourable Mention. Check out Aishwarya Soni’s account of her learnings from CRUT about their policies and practices to be a genuinely people-centric public transport service. In her words, the visit was “a pivotal experience, one that has left a lasting impression on me.”

On 27th July 2023, the ITDP India team was delighted to organise a visit to the Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza for Ms. Steffi Lemke, Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety of Germany, along with a delegation from the Ministry. 

The ITDP India team presented our work on promoting sustainable mobility in India, with specific focus on the journey of the street transformation work across the country, starting in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and the subsequent scale-up to 100+ cities through three national programmes with the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs—Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All.

Since 2015, with support from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) under the India Sustainable Mobility Initiative project, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has been supporting the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Chennai Smart City Limited to work on transforming the city’s streets into safe and comfortable spaces for pedestrians and cyclists and improving its public transport system. 

Over the years, Chennai has been a pioneer with multiple ambitious steps towards this vision—adopting the country’s first Non-Motorised Transport Policy prioritising walking and cycling; creating an award-winning Streets for People Initiative redesigning more than 100 km of streets; creating the city’s first pedestrian plaza in Pondy Bazaar, a historic shopping area in the heart of the city; launching a visionary Mega Streets programme to scale up work to over 250 km of streets in six neighbourhoods across the city; operationalising the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) to consolidate and coordinate all transport projects being implemented in the city; and setting up the country’s first Gender and Policy Lab, to mainstream gender-inclusive transport planning.

Following the presentation, the Minister and delegation walked with the ITDP India team through the Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza to experience the project first-hand. Through the visit, the ITDP India team highlighted key successes of the project—the wide and accessible walkways, trees and green areas, comfortable seating, designated parking areas and well-managed on-street parking, children’s play areas, and integrated utilities—making it a unique space in the city, and a role model for other cities.

We look forward to working with cities across the country to transform their streets into Healthy Streets—safe and comfortable for walking and cycling—and improve their public transport systems to move together towards a sustainable and inclusive future.

Building the capacity of bus operators across India

Part 1 of the Communicating Public Transport Series

Public transport plays a crucial role in reducing traffic congestion, cutting emissions, and enhancing the overall quality of urban life. Achieving a significant shift towards increased bus usage, however, is no easy feat. It requires a thoughtful combination of infrastructure development, better operations, and, most importantly, effective communications and targeted marketing strategies. As the first step towards improving public transport communications, ITDP India joined hands with the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) to build the capacity of bus operators across the country on effective communications to improve passenger experience.

^{Factors impacting passenger experience: Marketing and communications are an integral part of ensuring the services reach the passengers}

Bridging the Gap between Passengers and Public Transport Services: The Role of Communication

Reliability, frequency, and connectivity are key aspects that influence passenger decisions when choosing public transport. Ensuring buses are convenient and run on time builds confidence and trust among passengers. Yet, even with efficient operations planning and management, effective communication between the bus operator and passengers is a vital link in the chain to ensure these services reach the people they serve. Marketing, communications, and passenger information play an indispensable role in bridging this gap. 

There are two broad groups that bus operators should reach—existing passengers who travel by public transport and potential passengers who can shift from private modes if they can be convinced.

Car manufacturers know this. They know making a good car is only the start. They invest in selling, and in selling them well. 4600 crore INR (560 million USD) is what car manufacturers spent on marketing, just in one year. That’s what buses and public transport are up against. And hence, they need to invest in marketing and communications, in addition to improving their services.

Public transport service providers should ensure that existing passengers have updated and easy-to-understand information that can empower them to continue to commute comfortably. Additionally, through targeted marketing campaigns, they can also attract new passengers and expand the number of bus users.

Building the capacity of State Transport Undertakings 

As a first step towards making public transport service providers in India understand the importance of of communications, ITDP India collaborated with the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) to conduct a series of capacity building workshops for depot managers from public bus operators across the country. Held at the Central Institute for Road Transport (CIRT), Pune, these sessions aim to train over 150 depot managers in two specific areas—effective communications to improve passenger experience and planning & operating electric buses.

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Promote would include building a vision-driven brand, and ensuring that passengers are aware of existing services, schemes, and offers. Inform would include providing passengers with accurate and up-to-date information—on stops, services, and routes, including any changes. Engage would include listening to their passengers— getting their input and feedback to address any concerns and improve the services provided.

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By understanding passengers, their needs, challenges, and preferences, bus operators could provide better services that cater to their needs and successfully retain them.

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Drawing inspiration from international success stories, this session emphasised how enabling these staff to engage empathetically with passengers can help improve passenger experience.

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Ensuring depot managers are trained in effective communication will not only ensure that they can improve our public transport systems today but also create life-long champions who will go on to accelerate this transformation across the country. We look forward to continuing to support ASRTU in working towards a sustainable and inclusive public transport future for the country.

Written by Varsha Jeyapandi

Bogotá, Colombia, stands as a beacon of sustainable transport, earning the prestigious Sustainable Transport Award not once but twice—first in 2005 and again in 2022. The city’s remarkable commitment to active mobility and resilient planning led to its selection as the host city for MOBILIZE Learning Lab.

ITDP’s MOBILIZE program originated as an annual Summit to celebrate the winners of the Sustainable Transport Award and expanded to include the MOBILIZE Learning Lab—focused on cultivating knowledge exchange between these cities and relevant stakeholders. MOBILIZE aims to showcase cities that have implemented successful mobility projects so that others can learn from these experiences and utilise technical acumen that qualifies as best practices in regional contexts. 

In June 2023, the first in-person session of the MOBILIZE Learning Lab brought together practitioners and academics in Bogotá, Colombia, to see and experience first-hand the potential of resilient and equitable public transport and to discuss a collective vision for the future. Here are some transformative initiatives the ITDP India team witnessed in Bogotá that can inspire us all. 

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