In 2020, the Government of India launched the Streets4People Challenge to inspire over 100 cities to reimagine streets as safe, happy, and healthy public spaces. This is in line with National Urban Transport Policy (2006) that calls for a paradigm shift from car-centric roads to people-centric streets. In Stage 1 of the Challenge, cities worked towards the vision of creating a city-wide network of ‘Healthy Streets’.

113 cities signed up for the Streets4People Challenge. They adopted a new mantra of engaging with citizens, crowdsourcing ideas, and testing innovative, inexpensive, and quick ideas to create walking-friendly streets. Cities have transformed the challenge into one of India’s most successful community-driven movement!

We congratulate the top 15 cities who were selected as pioneers for showcasing exemplary leadership, creative on-ground transformation, and extensive collaboration with citizens. Read on to know more about the work done by the Top 15!

Way Forward

In Stage 2, the cities will use their learnings and continue to work towards a vision for “Healthy Streets”—integrating walking, cycling, and public transport to make streets safe and convenient for all. Stage 2 will focus on expanding their work by developing long term implementation plans, budgets, making their pilot interventions permanent and building institutional resilience to ensure that we build a nation of Healthy Streets! For those cities who have yet to start their journey, we are now launching Season 2 of both the Challenges.

Register for Season 2 here.

A toddler trots on a traffic-free Lakshmi Road. Elderly men and women, seated at Pashan-Sus Road, chortle over a conversation, their chatter punctuated by the whizz of skateboarders nearby. A mother casually walks with her baby in a stroller on an uninterrupted footpath at Aundh. Her father with a walking stick joins in too. 

Everyone’s happy. Everyone’s smiling. Everyone’s moving on foot. 

Welcome to India’s—and Pune’s— first Pedestrians’ Day. 

On 11^th December’ 21, through a series of events across the city, the city reclaimed space for pedestrians, showcased the facilities created for them, and reinforced the need for safe, comfortable, and universally accessible walking infrastructure. We congratulate the visionaries of Pune Pedestrians’ Day—Murlidhar Mohol, Mayor of Pune, and Kunal Khemnar, Additional Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)—and the supporting organisations and individuals, for achieving this milestone.

Why Pedestrians’ Days are important

We all wonder what a car-free future looks like. A Pedestrians’ Day can show you what that future feels like. It puts the spotlight on the most vulnerable users of the road—the pedestrians, especially the women, children, and elderly—and raises awareness about their safety, needs, and rights. Of the 1.5 lakh road crash deaths in 2019 in India, a whopping 17% of them were pedestrians. By reclaiming space from vehicles, and letting people walk, cycle, run, and roll, the Day presents an impactful image of how our streets could and should be safely redesigned, thus leading to permanent change. 

In Pune, car users who were previously sceptical and dismissive of walking projects, began to empathise with pedestrians after the event. That’s the power of a Pedestrians’ Day. 

A Pedestrians’ Day?  Walking is sooooo unsafe, how are we going to celebrate it?!  But that’s exactly why we need one!  A ‘Day’ like the ‘Environment Day’ attracts people’s attention towards related issues.  It leads to discussions, ideas, initiatives, projects, and improvements.  Likewise, if you want your near and dear ones to be able to walk safely, among other initiatives, start observing Pedestrians’ Day in your city.

Harshad Abhyankar, Director, Save Pune Traffic Movement

Your guide to doing Pedestrians’ Day right!

Partner with local organisations, experts, and volunteers

Pulling off an event like Pedestrians’ Day is no easy feat, and a single entity or organisation may not be able to do it all. It’s smarter to collaborate with experts from different backgrounds to ideate and execute the plan for a greater impact. A city should partner with social impact organisations, urban design and planning experts, civil society groups, who best understand the local context and the issues around walking and cycling. The partners can help with managing, coordinating, and executing the Day and its various activities. Also, rope in volunteers who can help with tasks like conducting outreach, documenting with photos and videos, managing the crowd, measuring the impact, and so on.

Secure the backing of one or more city leaders

A Pedestrians’ Day is bound to get a lot of attention, and with that comes criticism too. When a leader champions pedestrians’ rights and endorses safer walking facilities, it becomes easier to get support from other city agencies and departments—like the urban local body and traffic police— who need to come together to make the event a success. In Pune’s case, the Mayor championed the Pedestrians’ Day, handled pushback from various stakeholders, and even made a public commitment at the event.

For this pedestrians’ day we (PMC) along with other NGOs have created pedestrian-friendly infrastructure in different parts of the city…. But we don’t wish to stop here. We want to see Pune having better accessible pedestrian infrastructure all across the city by our Pedestrians’ Day next year.

Murlidhar Mohol, Mayor of Pune

Host the Day around an ‘anchor’

‘Open Streets’ events are hosted globally, where streets are closed to traffic and opened to life. Does your city have a street that everyone wished was rid of cars and bikes? Along the beach, in a shopping district, or close to a lake? Choose your anchor location for Pedestrians’ Day, one that will attract people to experience this car-free carnival. Lakshmi Road, a bustling and overcrowded commercial street, was Pune’s anchor. Talks of pedestrianizing this street have been going on for more than 30 years, so it was a pretty big deal when it finally happened, even temporarily. 

Pedestrians’ day was not just a celebration of past walking infrastructure projects, but it was a day to kick off multiple activities that will ensure pedestrian safety in coming years. ‘Lakshmi Road Open Street Mall’ was one of such initiatives conducted on the day. The idea behind Open Street Mall was—if we can’t stop vehicles just for a day for pedestrians to move freely on Lakshmi road, it will defeat the purpose of Pedestrians’ Day.

Pranjali Deshpande, Urban Planner-NMT committee member of Pune Municipal Corporation

Alongside the anchor event, host events and activities in other parts of the city too, thus catering to a diverse demographic, with varying socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

Consult with local stakeholders

The street may be owned by the Government, but it belongs to its people. This means that there would be a lot of local stakeholders, who need to be consulted before the Day is rolled out. Shopkeepers, business owners, shoppers, residents—they may have their fair share of concerns about the event. Empathise with them. Seek their inputs and feedback on how you can improve your action plan. 

When you engage them in the process, they start to feel more invested in the event, and sometimes turn into its biggest advocates too! By giving them space for dialogue, you can allay any fears or worries they may have, and reduce potential pushback.

It is imperative to solicit the feedback of the local stakeholders, at every stage of the process. The critical inputs from shopkeepers, vendors, residents, and visitors should be documented before, during, and after the event. This dialogue helps to identify concerns, create inclusive proposals, help reduce pushbacks, garner support, and most importantly, it can bring out champions for the cause.

Pranjal Kulkarni, Deputy Manager-Healthy Streets & Compact Cities, ITDP India

Time it right 

‘Open Streets’ events are typically hosted during the morning hours of the weekends, when there is less traffic anyway. Why not host these events across the entire day? Make a statement—that you prioritise your pedestrians and cyclists over motor vehicles—by organising the Pedestrians’ Day during busy hours. Traffic movement is likely to change, and car users may get frustrated, which brings us to the next point…

Provide alternate ways for people to reach the event locations

Strategically plan how vehicles will be rerouted. Deploy special bus services and buggies for people to reach the venue conveniently. These arrangements make it easier for people to ditch their personal vehicles, and experience the Day as a pedestrian would! Communicate these details in advance so people can make an informed decision.

Organise spaces and activities for all users

Make people feel welcome—by ensuring there’s something for everyone to do. Include all age groups,  genders, and abilities while planning your activities. Play and art zones, yoga sessions, laughter exercises, street performances, free cycle repair clinics— think of the different ways in which you can engage with your diverse audience. Taking it a notch higher, Pune even hosted an ‘Accessibility audit’, inviting persons on wheelchairs and with walking sticks, and caregivers with prams and strollers, to experience what a street accessible by ALL feels like. 

Create hype with a robust communications strategy

To effectively reach your target audience and leverage the event for permanent change, put together a comprehensive communications strategy for all the phases—before, during, and after the event. Start by

1. Identifying the target audience: A Pedestrians’ Day has the potential to influence and impact a lot of stakeholders. But not everyone may be on board with the idea at the start. List your most important stakeholders and understand what their concerns might be.

2. Sending out the right message: Be empathetic to the concerns raised by the target audience. Try to show them the big picture by sending out the right message about the event, and its long-term benefits.

3. Choosing the right communications channels: Reach your target audience through different media. Leverage print media—newspapers have a wide readership, from city leaders to the common man. Actively post on social media. Consider other offline media too—like posters, banners, billboards, and radio.

4. Allocating the right resources: Put together a team to effectively execute the communications plan. Hire a videography agency to document the event. Monitor the plan closely, so you can pivot when required.

5. Analysing the results: Track the impact of your strategy to understand how it did, and how you can improve the strategy next time. 

Measure the impact

Impact assessment tools—footfall counts, surveys, before-after photos, testimonials—demonstrate how people use and experience their spaces differently when streets are reclaimed for people to walk, cycle, and loiter on their streets, where they are not overwhelmed by the sounds, smoke, and scare of motor vehicles. If the intervention is planned in a commercial zone, increase in sales and revenue also indicate the positive outcome of making the street walkable. These numbers and stories of impact are a great way to build support for permanent pedestrian projects in the future.

The Laxmi road pedestrianisation trial was meant as a proof of concept and to get a sense of what issues will arise and how one might tackle them. It also gave us a chance to develop methodologies for collecting data, so that they could be refined based on how they worked. And while some impacts can be meaningfully measured, such as reduction in noise and pollution levels, footfalls and revenues on the other hand cannot be assessed based on a half-day event.

Ranjit Gadgil, Programme Director, Parisar

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That’s it! We hope that the guide inspires you to go and launch your own Pedestrians’ Day. Following Pune’s lead, other cities in India want to host Pedestrians’ Days too, and we can’t wait to see the transformation they create.

Because as Janette Sadik Khan says, “If you can change the street, you can change the world”.

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We take this moment to appreciate the efforts and initiatives of:

• Organisations and individuals— Save Pune Traffic Movement, Parisar, and Pranjali Deshpande;
• PMC’s engineers—V.G. Kulkarni, Dinkar Gojare, Ardhapure; 
• PMC’s urban designers—Abhijit Kondhalkar, Tanmay Bhalerao, Megha Sharma;
• ITDP India’s Pune team— Pranjal Kulkarni, Naveenaa Munuswamy, Siddhartha Godbole, Suraj Bartakke;
• The people of Pune who brought its streets to life;

and everyone else who made the Pune Pedestrians’ Day possible.

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Written by: Aishwarya Soni
Edited by: Kashmira Dubash
With inputs from Naveenaa Munuswamy, Siddhartha Godbole, Pranjal Kulkarni

If you have any suggestions for our How-to guide, do share them with us at india@itdp.org. We’d love to hear from you. 

With Covid on the rise again, changes to commuting patterns and travel behaviour is beyond doubt. In 2020, as the pandemic brought cities to a halt, staying at home opened people’s willingness to commute via foot or cycle to reach essential services. Since then, cities have been forced to rethink and reshape their public spaces, streets, public transport and shift focus on people. Unfortunately, as soon as restrictions were lifted, roads were taken over by motorists en masse and cities are now grappling with traffic congestion all over again. How do we make our cities more resilient with Covid on the rise again? 

With the intent to develop a long term behavioral change in citizens towards taking up walking and cycling, and to make city leaders as walking and cycling champions in each city, Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched two unique national level Challenges for the first time: “Freedom 2 Walk & Cycle Challenge for City Leaders” & “Inter- City Freedom 2 Walk & Cycle Challenge for Citizens” between 1st to 26th January 2022. ITDP India is the knowledge partner of Smart Cities Mission for the two Challenges. 

Freedom 2 Walk & Cycle builds on the success of the two national-level Challenges – India Cycles4Change Challenge and the Streets4People Challenge by MoHUA and ITDP India, which was launched in 2020 to encourage cities adopt a healthy walking and cycling culture, during the pandemic. 

Progress

75 cities have registered so far for the Inter-City Challenge with over 12,600 citizens sign-ups. 66 cities and nearly 300 leaders comprising Commissioners, Additional/Joint/Deputy Commissioner, Smart City CEOs and Key SPV Officials have signed up so far for the city leaders Challenge. 

The participants will be required to track their walk & cycle activities daily and best performing cities will be awarded. Citizens interested to join the Freedom 2 Walk & Cycle Inter-City Challenge can register for their respective city through the website: https://www.allforsport.in/challenges or through the registration links shared by the official social media handle of the city corporation.

“I have started cycling more often to work and for recreation over the last couple of years. Not only have I become more physically and mentally fit, it has given me a different perspective towards looking at the city and its needs. Cycling is a humble yet very powerful tool that can transform the cities we live in. I urge all city leaders and citizens to experience their cities through walk and cycle and become champions who inspire others’ _ Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary, Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA 

Background

As a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, MoHUA organized a successful nationwide campaign titled “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav- Freedom 2 Walk & Cycle” between October 1-3, 2021. The 100 Smart Cities  actively hosted over 220+ events, to promote walking and cycling. The events ranged from activities to empower women & children to walk and cycle, to bring more pedestrians and cyclists to the streets, testing temporary interventions and more.

What next?

If you are a citizen interested in taking part in Freedom2Walk&Cycle sign-up now on https://www.allforsport.in/challenges 

Winners will be announced after January 26, 2022. 

Watch this space for how cities and their leaders encourage the entire nation to get active and rise above the pandemic stronger and healthier.

There’s no easy way to describe 2021. With the country reeling under the second wave of COVID-19, there was distress and grief all over India.

But shortly after that, vaccinations came in, and so did hope. Borders opened up, families reunited, friends got together, businesses restarted, people had smiles again, albeit under their masks. We have come out stronger, warmer, and more resilient than ever before. 

Despite the roller-coaster year that 2021 was, we at ITDP India are proud of what we’ve been able to collectively achieve with the support of our partners.

Here’s a look back at our top 10 wins from 2021:

1. 25 cities pioneer India’s Cycling Challenge: Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in partnership with ITDP India, launched three national level Challenges—India Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All. Over a 100 cities participated in Stage 1 of the Cycles4Change Challenge—cities tried bold temporary transformations including pilot cycle tracks and cycle repair clinics, and involved their citizens in elevating their efforts through surveys and feedback.
   
   25 cities—India’s cycling pioneers—were shortlisted to move into Stage 2, of which 11 cities won the ‘Top Awardees’ and 4 cities received the ‘Jury Special Mention’. We are excited to start work with the cities for Stage 2 to make the pilot interventions permanent!
   
   Do check out our exclusive publication—The Dawn of a Cycling Revolution—that covers EVERYTHING about Stage 1.

2. 150 open street events pave the way to build healthy, happy streets through the Streets4People Challenge: …and nearly 1.5 lakh people attended these events!
   
   Yes, you read that right. India witnessed more than 150 ‘open street’ events that brought together over 1.5 lakh people on the streets to enjoy their space without cars, through the Streets4People Challenge. 
   
   100 Indian cities took to the Challenge to reimagine streets as safe, happy, and healthy public spaces. Cities launched design competitions to crowdsource ideas and pilot the winning entries on ground. The impact echoed nation-wide with more partnerships being formed with architects and designers, civil society organisations, academic institutions, start-ups, and technical partners—making it one of India’s most collaborative Challenges.
   
   Stage 1 concluded this year, with 30 cities being shortlisted to move into Stage 2. Winners of Stage 1 will be announced in January ’22. We can’t wait to see how these cities transform their streets into vibrant public spaces!

3. In pursuit of inclusivity and equality, the Transport4All Challenge may be a game-changer: Cities thrive on the opportunity of work and play, and the options available to easily access them. To help make sense of urban life since the pandemic, India’s Transport4All Challenge will guide cities to test solutions, learn from them, and scale-up efforts to build people’s trust in public transport.
   
   30 cities engaged with over 2 lakh citizens, 15,000 bus drivers and conductors, and 20,000 informal public transport drivers to understand their concerns at large, as part of Stage 1. Cities will use insights from these surveys to frame problem statements, and support startups to create solutions through digital innovation to improve public transport at large.

4. Freedom2Walk&Cycle launched as part of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’: Aligned with the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges, MoHUA in collaboration with ITDP India, launched the Freedom2Walk&Cycle Campaign to ensure health, safety and empowerment for all people, through walking and cycling. Over 100 Indian cities celebrated  Freedom2Walk&Cycle and rolled out 220+ events. Nearly 850+ km of cycling initiatives and 150+ km of walking initiatives were launched. From conducting women-only-cycle rallies and cyclothons for children, to hosting street walks with the elderly, cities rolled out special events to ensure every single citizen was included and felt welcome.

5. Pune inaugurates Pashan-Sus Road on its first Pedestrian Day: Pune inaugurated a 500m stretch of Pashan-Sus Road—which was tested as part of the Streets4People Challenge— with a new footpath, cycle track, seaters, open gym, skateboard plaza, and a play zone for kids. The Road was inaugurated on 11th December ’21, on the occasion of Pune Pedestrians’ Day—celebrated for the first time in India. Several local NGOs along with ITDP India supported the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in planning and executing India’s first Pedestrian Day. Pune observed this milestone day with several activities planned to spotlight pedestrian safety. One of the highlights: PMC closed off a stretch of its famous (and over crowded) shopping destination—Laxmi Road— to cars and bikes, and reclaimed the street for its pedestrians.
   
   We hope that all cities in India and the world are inspired by Pune, and celebrate their pedestrians too, by creating walking infrastructure that is safe, comfortable and accessible for all.
   
   

6. Pimpri Chinchwad adopts a progressive Non-Motorised transport Policy: After months of meetings, discussions, and inputs from officials, politicians, NGOs, and citizens, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) finally adopted the Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Policy—a progressive policy that focuses on prioritizing walking and cycling.
   
   Following the adoption, ITDP India along with the partners, organised a NMT capacity building workshop for over 400 PCMC Engineers, with experts presenting on various topics of street design.

7. Getting the momentum started with ‘Quick win Streets’ in Chennai: Through the Mega Streets project (launched in 2020), the Greater Chennai Corporation has started work to transform 120km of streets in six distinct types of neighbourhoods. The project will ensure seamless mobility, enhanced livability & well-managed utilities in all arterial & sub-arterial streets of the neighbourhoods. 
   
   The Corporation will first begin revamping 25km of ‘Quick win streets’ in the six neighbourhoods, redesigned by urban designers from across the country. As technical advisors to the Corporation, ITDP India is excited to support in creating these neighbourhood into walking, cycling and shopping plazas.

8. Chennai pilots the integration of electric micro-mobility with city buses: ITDP India collaborated with Greater Chennai Corporation, Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Transport Department, and Public Bicycle Sharing agency SmartBike, to integrate bikeshare stations with key bus terminals to achieve last-mile connectivity gains. The first pilot was done at the KK Nagar bus terminal in September ’21.
   
   The bus terminal and e-bike integration pilot in Chennai paved the way for India’s first bicycle sharing station with electric charging points. Post a six-month trial run of ‘at-station charging’ at the KK Nagar terminal, the approach can be replicated at other stations throughout the city.

9. Ranchi’s #ShanivarNoCar gets people walking and cycling: Leveraging the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges, Ranchi Municipal Corporation and Ranchi Smart City Corporation Limited in consultation with ITDP India, CSOs and citizen groups, launched the #ShanivarNoCar campaign—an appeal to the public to ditch the car every Saturday, and cycle or walk instead.
   
   

Please use cycles— whenever and wherever possible—to make a greener Ranchi.
–Sri Hemant Soren, Jharkhand’s Chief Minister

10. ITDP India hosts 18 workshops and produces 120+ guidance documents for the three national Challenges: As the knowledge partners, ITDP India conducted capacity-building workshops & provided technical and communication expertise through guidance documents, templates for outreach, and case studies. Check out the vast library of resources for India Cycles4Change, Streets4People & Transport4All Challenge on their websites.

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 transport community—NGOs, consultants, mobility experts, academic institutes, CSOs, and individuals—who care about our cities and make things happen on-ground. We do what we do because of their never-ending support!

Our list of thanks is incomplete without a special shoutout to the team at ITDP India— both present & past—who bring their passion to work every day, to create healthy streets, healthy cities, and happy lives. 

Here’s bidding adieu to 2021. We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us!

Wishing you all a safe, healthy, and happy New Year.

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By Aishwarya Soni & Kashmira Dubash

We are excited to announce the appointment of Aswathy Dilip as the ITDP India’s Managing Director.

Prior to her new role, Aswathy was a Senior Programme Manager at ITDP India, leading our technical team in carrying out nation-wide sustainable mobility strategies and interventions. 

Today, Aswathy is a sought-after expert in raising support for sustainable mobility from key decision makers, governments and stakeholders. Her leadership was greatly recognised through her most recent accomplishment in managing India’s first walking, cycling and public transport movement, through the national-level Challenges!

We also take this opportunity to bid adieu to Shreya Gadepalli, who successfully steered the ITDP India Programme for over 23 years. Shreya’s experience and inspiring leadership has been a huge asset to the organisation. We wish her the very best for her future endeavours. 

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With the combination of her experience, work-ethic and passion, we believe Aswathy is most suited for our next stages of growth. It’s time to get to know her a little better!

Five questions with Aswathy Dilip

Q1 Tell us about an accomplishment that shaped your career.

Last year, we were able to expand from state-level to national-level programmes with the launch of three challenges—India Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All—in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. This kickstarted a sustainable mobility revolution in the country! More than 140 cities are participating in these programmes, embracing the test-learn-scale mantra which encourages cities to try bold temporary transformations before making them permanent.

It was heartening to see that citizens were at the heart of this transformation during stage 1. The design solutions were tailor-made through citizen engagement and feedback. The impact echoed nation-wide with more partnerships being formed with civil society organisations, academic institutions, start-ups, and technical partners – making it one of India’s most collaborative challenges. This I believe is the success story, which reinforces my belief—that alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

Q2 How do you think the pandemic has changed the workings of the organisation?

The pandemic was tremendously challenging and it forced all of us to embrace behavioural change that may have otherwise taken decades. With a ban on travel, government bodies across the country embraced technology, which we are leveraging through our online training programmes. Today, we are able to support many more cities across the entire nation from Bangalore in the south to Chandigarh in the north, from Kohima in the east to Surat in the west.  It also gave us the opportunity to partner with experts across the world who shared their global learnings to inspire change locally.

Internally too, our team members were able to break through the invisible boundaries of the regions where our offices were located, and are collaborating nationally. This enabled us to build resilience within the team. We now also look forward to sharing our learnings with countries across the world to inspire change globally (all smiles).

Q3 What do you hope to accomplish within the next year?

As you may have heard, our Prime Minister set an ambitious commitment to achieve net zero targets by 2070, at COP26. Though the target has a span of 50 years, every year is crucial. Kickstarting next year, we look forward to stage 2 of our national level challenges where we will be working with cities to scale-up their walking, cycling, and public transport interventions. The designs tested by cities during stage 1, now need to become a permanent, tangible transformation. We are committed to making this happen!

We are also channeling our efforts to work towards the adoption of e-mobility in India – specially public transport, informal public transport, and micro mobility fleet. Our focus is to work with the State Transport Undertakings for procurement and operations of electric buses; as well as work with the private sector to create a roadmap for their transition to e-buses. 

Q4 Imagine yourself in three years. What do you hope will be different about you then compared to now?

As a personal goal, I definitely want to embrace a better work-life balance. I look forward to exploring art, improving my singing, traveling to unknown destinations, and spreading my love for meditation.
 
At the organisational front, I certainly want ITDP India to be a part of collaborative networks.  I would like ITDP to be a catalyst in bringing together various stakeholders to transform our cities into healthy and liveable urban centres.

And finally…

Q5 What is harder: being a mother of two or Director of one?

No doubts, being a mother of two wonderful boys who often drive me up the wall! However, I must credit them for shaping my patience and perseverance that definitely gives me an edge at work.

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We, at ITDP India, look forward to an exciting future under Aswathy’s leadership, and we hope to collaborate with you to further our vision: to create healthy streets, healthy cities, and happy lives. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

You can connect with Aswathy on LinkedIn
Connect with ITDP India on LinkedIn 

Written by Kashmira Dubash

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe with governments initiating immediate and stringent responses to control the spread of the virus, including the imposition of lockdowns and travel restrictions. These restrictions have had immense social and economic costs, disrupting global supply chains, social interaction, and access to livelihoods. Although these costs are borne by everyone, they have exacerbated the pre-existing inequalities and disadvantages for women. Even before the pandemic, there was an urgent need to improve mobility for women. As we come out of lockdown and work towards a green recovery, cycling can play an important role in improving women’s mobility. 

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Pandemic or not, women’s mobility in Indian cities has never been easy. Several factors, such as the lack of last mile connectivity, poor or no footpaths, and unreliable public transport services make everyday travel for women a nightmare. The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdown worsened these existing difficulties. 

To understand the impact of the lockdown on women’s mobility, the ITDP India Programme conducted a study in May 2020. Through online surveys and conversations with experts working in the field of gender and urban spaces, we found that the lack of options for mobility was one of the biggest obstacles for women during the lockdown. In India, women depend more on public transport than men ^[1]. The lockdown and the subsequent halt to public transport operations adversely impacted their access to jobs and education.

There is an urgent need for a renewed, gendered focus on urban mobility that prioritises women and their requirements. Other than a necessary focus on improving public transport options, the pandemic has highlighted the need for affordable and sustainable options for women’s mobility to compete in a post-COVID 19 economy. Cycling can play an important role to address this as a sustainable and equitable mode of transport. 

Firoza Suresh, the bicycle mayor of Mumbai, argues that providing cycles along with training programmes for women not only helps them access jobs and education, but also enhances their freedom. She shared the story of a woman who spoke on what cycling would mean for her – “It will be great if you can train me [in cycling]. I don’t have to depend on my husband. If you teach me how to cycle, I will teach it to as many women as possible. Because cycling will give us freedom, it will give us independence.”

What the lockdown did

A complete shutdown of public transport (PT) during the lockdown had a grave impact on women for several reasons. According to Census 2011, women in India make eight out of ten trips on foot, cycle, or PT. With little to no access to personal motor vehicles (unlike their male counterparts), women largely depend on public transport, like buses, sub-urban rail, and metro. In places where PT is not easily available, women rely on Informal Public Transport (IPT) which includes shared autos, mini buses, and rickshaws.

With all PT services halted, the lockdown led to unexpected social and economic consequences for women. According to Nandita Baruah, Country Representative in India of The Asia Foundation, most women who work in the informal sector faced a daunting possibility. If they were unable to get to work or took longer, due to the reduced frequency or unavailability of PT and IPT, the employers would simply choose to bring men to work.

Some cities have PT options that are expensive and unaffordable. This also impacts women more than men. Tara Krishnaswamy of the Citizens for Bengaluru pointed out that, “Urban women are always cash constrained because they do not have a cash buffer like men do. So, if you design mobility systems that have an upfront payment—like a pass—it becomes very difficult for them.” Especially with diminished family earnings, following job losses in the informal sector due to the pandemic, expensive public transport fares force women to take up low paying, riskier jobs that may require less travel.

Urban women are always cash-constrained because they do not have a cash buffer like men do. So, if you design mobility systems that have an upfront payment—like a pass—it becomes very difficult for them.
– Tara Krishnaswamy, a founding member of Citizens for Bengaluru, on expensive and unaffordable public transport

Highlighting that halting PT services impacts women disproportionately, Karen Coelho of the Madras Institute of Development Studies pointed out that women either had to depend on the men in their family for travel or drop out of the work force altogether. In a national survey conducted by the ITDP India Programme to understand people’s travel choices post-lockdown, 41 per cent of female respondents said they did not have any personal motor vehicles, compared to only 17 percent of male respondents. Underlining the significance of mobility in women’s lives, Karen Coelho argues that, “The key concept is autonomy. As long as women are not autonomous in their movement, and are dependent on male family members, they are not mobile.” There is a need to create independent avenues of transport—such as cycling—that provide social and economic mobility for women and reduce their dependence on others. 

The key concept is autonomy. As long as women are not autonomous in their movement, and are dependent on male family members, they are not mobile.
– Karen Coelho, Madras Institute of Development Studies, on the significance of mobility in women’s lives

Cycles for Change

The national government has recognised cycling as an important step towards a green recovery from COVID-19. In June, the Smart Cities Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the India Cycles4Change Challenge to inspire and support cities to implement cycling-friendly initiatives in response to COVID-19. Most importantly, it mandates cities to place the community at the centre of planning and implementation, and encourage participation from diverse groups such as women, children, and the disabled. 

As part of the Challenge, cities have been working on three unique areas that will eventually increase the viability of cycling as an option for women’s mobility. These include initiatives such as training programmes to empower more women to access and use cycles, infrastructural interventions to ensure road safety and personal security, and awareness campaigns to inspire more women to cycle.

Improving access to cycles

Karen Coelho highlights the fact that cycling will work only when women have access to cycles.  According to ITDP India Programme’s survey, 6 out of 10 female respondents said they knew how to ride, but only 1 had a cycle. Providing women with access to cycles through affordable and robust public bicycle sharing programmes, community cycle rental schemes, and training camps for those who need to learn cycling are the first steps to make it a viable option for women. As part of the India Cycles4Change Challenge, several cities such as Kohima, New Town Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Mangaluru, Tumakuru, Jabalpur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, and Nashik have launched unique initiatives such as cycle training camps and free cycle repair clinics.

Women’s cycle rally and training programme for women and children in New Town Kolkata; Free cycle repair clinic in Kohima

Improving safety and security

Firoza Suresh also points out that road safety and personal security are two significant concerns for women while considering a shift to cycling. Since the launch of the Challenge in July 2020, 50 cities across the country have launched perception surveys to understand barriers that citizens face while cycling. With over half a lakh responses, the survey suggested that the biggest barriers faced by men and women while cycling are speeding vehicles, traffic congestion, and poor road surface due to potholes. Issues such as lack of cycle parking, obstructions by parked vehicles, and poor street lighting were also highlighted. According to the survey, 49% of women find cycling unsafe in main roads, while 34% fear cycling in city junctions. The survey also brought out another important concern for women while cycling—one out of every five women said they fear eve-teasing while cycling on the streets. 

As part of the Challenge, the core working team of 52 cities include women members to better address the needs of women for a safer cycling experience. Vadodara has appointed an ‘inclusivity manager’ and Karnataka has conducted a round table discussion to understand the challenges faced by women cyclists.  Cities are actively working on creating inclusive streets that are safe for all users. 

Awareness campaigns

Active participation and support from key stakeholders is crucial to the success of any initiative. To hear personal accounts of women on how cycling has empowered them and given them the freedom of mobility, the #SheCycles4Change and #Cycle2Freedom campaign was launched on 15 August 2020. Through the campaign, women shared their first experience of cycling, stories of achievement, and ideas of how cycling can be made safer for them. The objective was to inspire more women to support their cities in the Challenge and demand safe and high-quality cycling infrastructure. 

Stories shared by women across India as part of the #SheCycles4Change #Cycles2Freedom campaign

The pandemic has created massive difficulties for women, and it is imperative that we do something about it. The country cannot recover if half of its population continues to suffer from these hurdles in a post-COVID era. Together with the cities registered in the India Cycles4Change Challenge, civil society organisations, citizen groups, and local businesses, let’s make India a cycling haven for women. 

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If you are a civil society organisation, consultant, corporate, or concerned citizen eager to support your city in improving cycling for women in the India Cycles4Change Challenge, register here – https://bit.ly/30L0vnd

This article is part of a series of articles on the India Cycles4Change Challenge. 

Read Part 1 on the Launch of the India Cycles4Change Challenge

Read Part 2 on 10 ways you can make India a cycling nation

Read Part 3 on the cities’ campaigns and collaboration with their citizens

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We are deeply grateful to the experts who shared thier valuable views on the topic with us.

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Written by Aila Bandagi 

Expert interviews conducted by Aila Bandagi and Keshav Suryanarayanan

Edited by Avishek Jha and Aishwarya Soni  

[1] Census 2011: 27% of all work trips made by women are on bus and rail. 20% of all work trips made by men are on bus and rail.