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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One fine breezy evening in Pune, on my way back from work, I reached Sambhaji Park bus stop on JM road to catch my bus home. My bus was due 10 minutes later, but I didn’t mind waiting. The view from my seat on the wide footpath was vibrant, with people, including women, children, and the elderly, all comfortably lingering and enjoying the greenery of the street space. Soon it was time to go home, but I carried this happy sight. Places like JM Road and moments like this remind me of the impact even small achievements in improving mobility in a city can have on the well-being of its people. 

And Pune’s achievements aren’t very small.

Pune, India, received the Sustainable Transport Award in 2020 for its remarkable efforts in promoting sustainable mobility. The city aimed to achieve over 90% of non-motorized and public transport trips by 2031, setting an example for other cities. Pune adopted Urban Street Design Guidelines and a Walk-Smart policy, created a Bicycle Plan, and initiated an ambitious Pune Streets Programme  transforming 45 km of streets and improving over 500 km with improved footpaths. Impressive investments back these initiatives, with almost 50% of the transport budget allocated to sustainable transport since 2016. Pune also made history in 2021 by celebrating Pedestrians’ Day, fully pedestrianizing a 500m stretch on Laxmi road for a day.

Over the years, Pune has been proactive in creating initiatives and infrastructure for better streets, but how impactful have they been in improving the well-being of citizens? What has worked? And what more needs to be done? 

These questions led the city and its leaders to take up the Walk and Cycle Analysis—an assessment of the city’s streets—conducted by ITDP India with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The report was launched during the city’s second Pedestrians’ Day celebrations in December 2022.  

Here are some insights—challenges, lessons, and opportunities—from the process of conducting the analysis. 

Why do we need a Streets Assessment?

Despite Pune’s efforts to improve safety and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists, it was not an uncommon sight to see them still using the carriageway and not the footpaths or the cycle tracks. Despite spaces being allocated for parking, vehicles still haphazardly encroached on road space. People also had trouble accessing the city’s public transport infrastructure. 

In August 2022, as preparations began for the city’s second Pedestrians’ Day celebrations, officials at PMC organised a meeting focused on identifying areas that needed improvement to ensure the availability of the required investment. ITDP India highlighted the importance of conducting an assessment of Pune’s streets to identify and address issues. 

A street assessment would

• help identify any gaps in execution that may be barriers to the infrastructure being used as planned
• provide a comparative analysis of the conditions and impact of street design works across the city
• help identify the right interventions needed to improve the streets to adapt to the needs of their users, 
• inform the budgets prepared for street projects
• create a data-based mapping for streets
• be an effective communication tool to showcase the impact of street projects taken up

Reframing the study: From an Impact Assessment to a Situation Analysis

The study was initially conceived of as an impact assessment—which typically considers data from both before and after an intervention to understand the advantages and disadvantages comprehensively. But since pre-execution data was unavailable for most street projects, the study primarily focused on identifying gaps in the current situation of walking and cycling infrastructure and providing recommendations. 

The study assessed streets on four fundamental principles to effectively communicate with both city officials and citizens: 

1. Ease of movement – how comfortable are the streets to walk and cycle on.
2. Safety – how safe are they for pedestrians and cyclists.
3. Universal accessibility – how accessible are they to different user groups, including the elderly and persons with disabilities.
4. Liveability – how comfortable are the streets for all user groups (including children, elderly, and persons with disabilities) to spend time.

To gather data for these three principles, three types of surveys were conducted, each providing valuable insights into the street’s condition:

1. Design surveys: to evaluate how well the street adhered to established guidelines in terms of its design.
2. Observation surveys: to provide insights into the street usage patterns by observing how pedestrians and cyclists used the street.
3. Perception surveys: to understand subjective opinions and feelings about the street.

The cumulative data gathered from these surveys were analysed and scores were assigned to assess how well the streets address the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. 

Preparing the Assessment Action Plan with the Pune Municipal Corporation

From the start of the project, PMC was invested in the research, and the city’s involvement and ownership of the study was critical to ensure that it would be impactful in informing decisions about future street projects. With the methodology in place, the ITDP India team worked with officers and engineers from PMC to mobilise resources, select the streets to be assessed, and schedule the surveys. City engineers also assigned trainees to support with the surveys of the streets from their respective zones. The city also decided to launch the report during a big event on the second Pune Pedestrians’ Day celebration, showing their ownership of the project. 

Subsequently, we prepared an action plan to seamlessly implement the survey. Each survey was carefully mapped out—specifying the time required, resources allocated, and the location. The surveyors were provided with a comprehensive half-day training to ensure their understanding of the plan. It was also important for the plan to be adaptable to changes on-ground during the surveys. 

Here’s what we learnt from conducting the surveys on the ground.

Lessons from conducting the study on ground

1 | It is important to test the survey on ground before rolling out across all identified streets.
We initiated a pilot study of the survey on one street, to test the process to ensure things go smoothly when we rolled out the surveys for all the streets. The pilot gave us useful insights.

For example, we needed more surveyors on the ground. Considering the varying character of the street, we divided the street into 500-meter segments and assigned three surveyors to conduct the design, observation, and perception surveys. The design and observation surveys could be efficiently managed by one person each, but the perception surveys required significantly more time to complete. This situation led us to make a decision: either we had to increase the number of personnel dedicated to the perception survey, or we had to extend the timeline for completing the survey. Due to the limited availability of personnel, we opted to allocate extra time to ensure the successful completion of the survey.

2 | The timing and location of surveys is important to get context-specific insights. 
Capturing the situation during various times (school hours, peak hours in morning and evening, weekends and weekdays)and various locations (such as high footfall areas, different building uses—residential, commercial etc.— and near bus stops) can provide context-specific insights into street use. For example, surveys near bus stops can help capture the number of public transport users dependent  on non-motorised transport.

3 | Training of surveyors is crucial.
The surveyors need proper training on street design fundamentals before conducting fieldwork. Throughout the study, we developed a matrix that outlined the surveyors and the time required to complete surveys for every kilometer of a street. The matrix was as follows:

Design surveys	1 surveyor per street Time required: 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes per survey
Observation surveys	1 surveyor per street Time required: 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes per survey
Perception surveys	4 surveyors per street Time required: 1 hour for 50 surveys

The presence of a supervisor and/or a survey coordinator was necessary to ensure the authenticity of the collected data and provide guidance to the surveyors. Additionally, a technical person had the responsibility of monitoring data quality and ensuring a balanced representation in terms of gender and age demographics. 

Insights from the surveys

The study yielded significant insights into the street design process, with the top three insights being:

1. Streets designed according to the Pune Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG) performed better in all three surveys. This highlights the importance of adopting and adhering to design standards and guidelines in creating user-friendly streets. The streets that followed Pune USDG had better walking and cycling spaces, organised parking, placemaking and appropriate road safety measures.

2. Despite 70% of the surveyed streets having footpaths, only 30% of pedestrians actually used them. This indicates that a majority of the footpaths were unusable or face issues that force pedestrians to use the carriageway. There is a clear need to address these shortcomings and improve the functionality of footpaths.

3. Enforcement needs improvement. Encroachments of various kinds, such as illegal structures or obstructions, make footpaths and cycle tracks inaccessible. This emphasises the need for better enforcement mechanisms to ensure the proper use and maintenance of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

Check out the full analysis report here. 

What’s next?

The report received high praise from the city’s leadership. During its unveiling on Pedestrians’ Day, the Commissioner also emphasised the importance of conducting more studies like this in the future. The officials and engineers embraced the idea of data-driven making, with the collection of information on street usage and people’s perceptions of the streets they had implemented.

The study validated their efforts and motivated them to build on the existing work going forward. They embraced the action points highlighted in the report and have already started working on the ground to make improvements. The officials stressed the significance of conducting such studies periodically to monitor progress and ensure continuous enhancements in street design and infrastructure.

Similar studies, when done right, could be an eye-opener—for city officials as well as citizens. To begin with, cities that have been implementing walking- and cycling-friendly streets for more than five years can benefit from a similar assessment to evaluate the usability of their streets and make necessary improvements. Cities that are embarking on new Healthy Streets programmes should ensure they collect data for the streets before implementing new infrastructure to enable a true impact assessment by comparing with data collected after the transformation. It can also help create a user inventory for each street, and as cities assess more streets, they can create a city-wide database to inform their priorities while making decisions.
Cities keep arguing that streets don’t have enough pedestrians and cyclists to justify allocating space as per regulations—which is usually not the case at all. But pedestrians and cyclists have always been invisible street users, and a holistic street assessment can make them and their needs visible. It can help cities understand the needs of the most vulnerable street users and ensure that our streets and our cities work for everyone, not just for cars.

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In New Delhi on May 11th, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), in collaboration with the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and ITDP India, organised the Energy Efficient LiFE Charette. This unique event served as a platform to convene a diverse group of energy efficiency experts across 3 sectors – building, industry and transport, along with professionals specializing in communications and marketing, with the goal of transforming the narrative surrounding energy efficiency.

The event aimed to reframe key messages and communication strategies targeting the key emotions that drive the audiences to transition towards making energy efficient choices. The audiences identified included decision makers, businesses, and individuals. Energy efficiency communication is generally technical, without a focus on creating messages that resonate with diverse stakeholders and effectively drive behavior change. The event aimed to address this gap by emphasizing the benefits, experiences, and feelings associated with energy efficiency. Humanising the messaging can help build trust, credibility, and influence among the audience, facilitating their adoption of energy-efficient practices.

The event had two sessions: presentations from various partners, followed by a design charette—a hands-on workshop that brings people from different disciplines and backgrounds together with members of the community to explore design options for a particular topic—to develop key messages targeting certain emotions for multiple sectors and to multiple audiences.

Nudging energy efficiency in Transport and Cities

Aishwarya Soni, Deputy Manager – Communications at ITDP India presented on how different nudges can ensure energy efficiency in sustainable mobility by not solely focussing on efficiency, but leverage various other aspects—like health, cost savings, community and social impact, and climate action.

Brainstorming impactful narratives

The second session aimed to brainstorm innovative, emotion-driven energy efficiency narratives targeting different audiences across three sectors–buildings, business and industry, and transport. The participants delved into the persona of different target audience groups—individuals, policymakers, and the private sector—to understand the emotions to nudge transformation. This made way for tailored messages for each target group and also helped identify the right communications tools and approaches for effective outcomes.

From the above-mentioned sessions, key takeaways included: 

• Collaboration and audience aspirations: Change does not happen in isolation – communication is a catalyst for collaboration and collective action. Communication approaches need to be tailored to meet audiences where they are: focusing on building trust, bridging information gaps, and tapping into experiences. There is a need for a deeper understanding of the audience’s aspirations to address their needs effectively. 
• Changing the attitude about efficiency: Energy efficiency is about abundance—having more energy and doing more with it.  Even crises can be channelled in a positive and solution-oriented manner, for instance, by shifting the communication focus from “saving to survive” to “acting to thrive.” 
• Tapping into emotions: When crafting messages, there is a need to move from solutions and benefits to experiences and finally to emotions. The following emotions resonate with the various categories of audiences:
  • Optimism, Pride – Business. 
  • Lead, Pride, Confident, Hope, Proving – Government. 
  • Unity, Status, Ego, Pride, Satisfaction, Desire for a better life – Individual. 
• Simplifying the message and calling people for action: Good messages must be simple, personal, and beneficial. Great messages can connect to people, evoke emotion, and make them want to act. There is a need to democratise messages and let people feel that they are part of the solution to spur people to take more significant action within their context. 
• Reaching the people: Using the right technology is vital in disseminating messages and enabling innovative two-way communications. 

Launch of E-Bus Basics, an illustrated guide to planning for, procuring, and operating e-buses.

India has taken significant strides towards embracing electric mobility to reduce transport-related emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, paving the way for a greener and more efficient transport future. By focusing on the electrification of buses, cities can offer a more environmentally friendly option to a significant number of passengers while simultaneously reducing long-term operational expenses.

ITDP India’s latest publication in collaboration with the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU)—E-Bus Basics—provides a step-by-step guide for bus operators to transition to electric buses. It will help the reader deepen their understanding of the essential aspects to plan, procure, and operate electric buses in India. The publication was launched at a national workshop hosted by ASRTU and ITDP India for state transport undertakings on ‘Accelerating Procurement and Operations of Buses through Public Private Partnership’.

Download your copy here!

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COP-26 witnessed a historic moment when India committed to achieving Net Zero by 2070, and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced a target of EV30@2030—30% of newly registered private cars, 40% of buses, 70% of commercial cars, and 80% of 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers  will be electric by 2030. The states have a critical role in accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, and it was with this goal that the Government of Tamil Nadu launched its first Electric Vehicle Policy in 2019.

The policy envisioned attracting INR 500 billion in investments with an opportunity to create 150,000 new jobs and outlined several measures to support them. However, even after three years of policy adoption, the uptake for electric mobility is fairly low. Data from the Vahan Portal shows that in 2022 only about 3.9% of vehicles registered in the state were EVs, and this number was just 2% in 2021. One key reason was the policy’s focus on non-fiscal demand-side incentives, such as tax exemption and registration fees, whereas it lacked upfront capital subsidies for vehicle purchases. 

Taking proactive steps to improve the low electrification rate,  the state government started the process of revising the policy in 2021, to plug the gaps in the 2019 policy and address EV adoption with a more comprehensive approach. The state launched the revised EV policy in February 2023. We take a look at why the revised policy is important, how it compares with other states, and the way forward for the effective implementation of the policy.

Why is the 2023 EV Policy important?

The Industries Department, which anchored the creation of the 2019 EV Policy, took up its subsequent revision through a consultative process with various stakeholders—including original equipment manufacturers (OEM), charging point operators (CPO), private bus operators, and financial institutions. As part of the consultations, ITDP India also provided recommendations to the Industries Department on various aspects of the policy, including fiscal incentives for all buses, EV charging tariffs and demand-based energy pricing, and incentives for public charging infrastructure to cover commercial vehicles, including buses.

The revised policy gives the state an edge over others by attracting investments in manufacturing, revolutionising it as an EV hub for the nation and, at the same time, encouraging the shift of commercial fleets to EVs by giving upfront capital subsidies. For consumers to shift to EVs, the availability of charging infrastructure is critical. The aspect of public charging infrastructure was not addressed in the previous policy, but the current policy incentivises investment and the setting up of public charging and swapping stations.

In addition to the provisions of the 2019 Policy, the revised policy looks at the following aspects:

• Supply-side incentives – the policy aims to bring in investment in the state and offers more subsidies and incentives than the previous policy (such as Turnover-based Subsidy, Green Industry Incentive, Quality Certification Incentive etc.).
• Special demand-side incentives – To focus on the electrification of public transport and shared mobility, the policy seeks to incentivise only commercial vehicles.

• Retrofitting incentives – The policy facilitates the shift of existing internal combustion engine (ICE) commercial 2- and 3-wheelers to electric by offering retrofitting incentives. This incentive is one of a kind, and 3-wheeler fleets would especially benefit from this. Currently, the cost of retrofitting 2-wheelers is INR 25,000-65,000 and for 3-wheelers, it is INR 50,000-125,000. The incentives will reduce the retrofitting cost by 20-25%.

• Tariff revision to support EV charging stations – To foster the growth of public charging, the policy mandates the revision of energy tariffs by reducing existing charges by 75% for the first two years and by 50% for the subsequent two years. The energy tariff for public chargers falls under LT Tariff VII, and the energy charges vary from INR 8-12/kWh, bringing the reduced rates to INR  2-3/kWh. This will bring down the cost of operating EVs and, in turn, accelerate adoption.
• Incentives for charging infrastructure –  One of the most critical drivers for electrification is the availability of charging infrastructure. While the previous policy lacked incentives to facilitate initial momentum, the revised policy addresses this gap and provides a mix of support measures and incentives. With these incentives, the initial cost of setting up a charging station can be reduced by 20-25%. The EV Policy is also supporting private e-aggregators providing e-mobility solutions by providing incentives for setting up fast chargers for the first 50 applicants.

How does the 2023 EV Policy compare with the policies of other states leading electrification in India?

The above comparison shows:

• Tamil Nadu is amongst the states offering the highest incentives in terms of kWh of battery capacity. However, the number of vehicles incentivised is lower than in other states. These fiscal incentives would provide initial impetus for electrification, but the low vehicle cap could reduce momentum.
• While most states focus on scrapping incentives, Tamil Nadu has taken the lead in offering retrofitting incentives for 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers. This will not only support the conversion of ICE vehicles to EVs but also foster startups working on retrofitting in the state.
• All the demand incentives are tied only to commercial vehicles and not to private vehicles, thus strengthening the importance of electrifying public transport and shared mobility.

The above comparison shows that Tamil Nadu provides the highest incentives to charging point operators, but the number of beneficiaries is restricted. This low number could reduce the momentum.  

How does the policy address implementation?

Policies without clear implementation plans often do not result in on-ground transformation. The 2023 EV Policy addresses this by mandating the creation of institutional structures and implementation plans.

• EV Cell to be set up at GUIDANCE
  GUIDANCE is a nodal agency under the aegis of the Department of Industries and Commerce, Tamil Nadu, for investment promotion and single window facilitation. The EV Cell will be instrumental in implementing the policy and monitoring the state’s progress.
  Delhi’s experience shows that a dedicated Cell can play a critical role in catalysing electrification. The EV Cell in Tamil Nadu can put policy implementation on the fast track by facilitating investments, ensuring effective communication and outreach to build awareness, facilitating interdepartmental coordination, deploying public charging infrastructure on a public-private model, and guiding cities to create implementation plans.
• 6 EV cities designated: Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Salem, and Tirunelveli are designated as EV cities of Tamil Nadu wherein the Smart City Corporation/Municipal Corporation will act as the nodal agency to steer the electrification drive. These cities will work with the state EV cell to implement the policy, implement charging infrastructure, and develop roadmaps to meet the target of 100% electrification of three-wheelers.

Way forward

The Government of Tamil Nadu should capitalise on the momentum of the 2023 EV Policy. 

• The policy has mandated the creation of an EV Steering Committee and an EV Cell. The policy mentions that the Steering Committee would include representatives from various state departments, city agencies in the EV cities, academic institutions, and technical experts. Additionally, it is crucial for the EV Cell to also include these representatives from various stakeholders to ensure faster coordination, conflict resolution, and implementation.
• The EV Cell would develop a state-level roadmap for scaling up charging infrastructure and electrification of 3-wheelers and public/private buses. This document should address the various aspects of policy implementation in an integrated manner, to become the guiding document for all the cities in the state.
• Based on the state-level roadmap, each city should create city-level implementation plans with inputs from local stakeholders and the public. This plan should include required infrastructure development, such as public charging and battery swapping stations, along with effective communications and outreach to support fleet electrification.

The EV Policy 2023 is a great next step by the Government of Tamil Nadu towards accelerating transitioning to electric mobility across the state. We look forward to supporting the state and the EV Cell on the implementation of the policy.  

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International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

For more than a hundred years, International Women’s Day has been a beacon of hope and a call to action for millions of people worldwide. From its humble beginnings in 1911, when over a million people came together to demand women’s rights, IWD has become a global movement that belongs to all of us.

But despite our progress, the fight for gender equality is far from over. As we look to 2023, women still face daunting challenges simply stepping outside their homes. The obstacles can seem insurmountable as women still don’t find equal access to opportunities because of difficulties in commuting and lack of safety.

So how can we make our public spaces better? What works for women and what doesn’t? These are the questions we’re asking ourselves today, and we’re starting by listening to the experiences of the women on our team.
These women are part of the lucky 47% of urban women who are able to venture out into public spaces without fear or hesitation. We’ve asked them to share their stories and their experiences so that we can learn from them and make our work better.

Join us in this conversation as we explore what works and doesn’t for women in public spaces. Let’s work together to create a world where women can thrive, reach their full potential, and feel safe and secure every step of the way.

Favourite memory from an urban space (anywhere in the world)

We asked about a favourite memory and the aspects of the space that shaped their experience to be memorable.

Based on the responses we received: 

Eyes on the street are crucial for enhancing experiences in urban spaces as they promote safety and community engagement. 

An active street edge with family-friendly activities can attract diverse people and encourage natural surveillance, reducing crime rates and people feeling more secure in their surroundings. 

Well-lit environments discourage undesirable activities, further enhancing the sense of personal safety.

By prioritising pedestrians, streets can promote social interaction among residents and visitors, leading to a stronger sense of community and reducing the risk of road crashes.

Car-free streets are also an effective way to enhance the safety and freedom of urban spaces. 

Water bodies with active edges have so much potential as urban spaces that they can offer openness and visibility while encouraging ownership through interaction with these water features. 

Favourite mode of transport

We asked about the most preferred mode of transport they take and why!

Based on the responses we received: 

Trains seemed to be a popular choice and we wondered why that could be! Some features make it tick all the right boxes such as 

Adequate lighting: Being well-lit vehicles and stations can help women feel more secure and aware of their surroundings at all times.

Reliable and rapid: With frequent, on-time service with dedicated rapid transit routes, they are quick and reliable.

Clear signage: Clear maps and directions can boost women’s confidence in navigating the public transportation system and decrease the chance of getting lost or stranded. Train stations are usually easier to spot than bus stops, which often suffer from inadequate signage and infrastructure that cause buses to not stop at their designated stops.

Accessible facilities:  Train stations are equipped with accessible restrooms and waiting areas that make them convenient and comfortable for women. Having well-maintained and accessible facilities near stops for other modes of public transportation can also increase women’s comfort and sense of security while using these services.

Gender-sensitive design: One big plus in trains, when compared to other public transport systems, are the separate seating areas or women-only carriages, which can provide an added layer of security and comfort.

Are these enough? What more do we need?

Encouraging respectful behaviour towards women by drivers, staff, and other passengers can help create a safer and more welcoming environment. The capacity building of passenger-facing staff in this aspect can help develop an inclusive experience for all users, including women. 

As the commissioner of the city…

We asked for a crazy/innovative idea for a technology that could enhance women’s experiences in public spaces or transportation but with a twist. 

A solution that aligns with the theme of this International Women’s Day: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. Here are some quirky and insightful answers!

Based on the responses we received: 

The solutions provide insight into the challenges that women often encounter, particularly in urban areas. They make it clear that addressing these challenges go beyond just digital interventions but also involves utilising digital innovations as tools to tackle some of these issues.

Access: While solutions can be digital, even accessing them can be a challenge due to various societal pressures that lead to women discontinuing basic education. Through awareness and education, women can attain the literacy they need for equal access. 

Basic facilities:  Providing basic facilities, such as restrooms, changing rooms, and access to sanitary products, is essential to help women maintain their health and hygiene without having to risk harassment by using unsafe or unsanitary areas.

Safety: Identifying problem areas in urban spaces with hostile environments with lack of insufficient light, with poor visibility and remedying that by installing bright, even lighting in public areas, designing safer spaces with clear sightlines, and pathways that are easily navigable can make women feel safer and reduce risk of harassment when walking around at night.

Enforcement: Patrolling problem spots frequently and making channels easy to access for women to reach out for help can improve women’s sense of safety and lower the risk from perpetrators.  Training law enforcement officers on how to respond to incidents of violence and harassment against women can help to ensure that they are equipped to handle these situations in a sensitive and effective manner.

Empowerment: By having more women in the workforce, the representation encourages women to speak out more about their issues, be confident in asserting their rights, and stand up against harassment or violence. This also leads to more inclusive decision-making that can improve their safety.

In conclusion, International Women’s Day reminds us of the importance of empowering women and promoting gender equality in all spheres of life. Women’s participation and representation in decision-making processes concerning urban development and public transport are crucial for creating cities that cater to the needs of not just women, but all individuals, regardless of gender. Gender-sensitive policies and practices ensure that women can access opportunities, services, and spaces that are safe, inclusive, and accessible. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, let us pledge to continue advocating for gender equality and creating a world where women can thrive and reach their full potential. Together, we can build a brighter and more equitable future for all.

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In an effort to improve public transport ridership in India, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, along with the Smart Cities mission, launched the #Transport 4All🚍Challenge in April 2021, envisioned as a three-stage campaign.

In successful stage 1, which 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 transportdrivers. 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.

The Challenge recently stepped into Stage 2—the Solution Generation stage—and the cities will work with shortlisted startups across the country; city governments will work towards innovative and impactful digital solutions to revolutionise public transportation and enhance the overall mobility experience for their citizens. These solutions would be geared at the eight problem statements identified through the stage 1 surveys.

A nationwide call for startups was announced to realise this, inviting applications to address the solutions for eight problem statements.

Shortlisting Startups

A team of experts shortlisted 70 startup applications from over 160 applications received for the Challenge from startups across the country based on three verticals: a) Relevance b) Solution Maturity c) Team Capability.

Find the list of 70 Shortlisted Startups Applications that will develop the solutions at this blog’s end.

Way Forward

Following this, in Stage-3, the winning startups will receive an award of up to ₹20 lakhs per solution and be eligible to pilot their digital solutions with the cities. The winning solutions are envisaged to be innovative, context-specific and profoundly transformative for the public transport system. We congratulate all the shortlisted startups and look forward to seeing their ideas improve the efficiency, convenience, and comfort of informal and formal public transport across Indian cities. .

We want to acknowledge 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. 

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, and sets up peer-learning platforms so cities can learn from one another.

S. No.	Application Number	Applicant Profile Name	Problem Statement Title
1	Tc00088	Amiraj Wahan Private Limited	1. Route Rationalization
2	Tc00166	Arms 4 Ai Private Limited	1. Route Rationalization
3	Tc00105	Auklr Technologies Private Limited	1. Route Rationalization
4	Tc00044	Flyby Business Solutions Private Limited	1. Route Rationalization
5	Tc00014	Redmond Techno Service (Opc) Private Limited	1. Route Rationalization
6	Tc00130	Salasar Ecommerce Total Solutions Private Limited	1. Route Rationalization
7	Tc00090	Amiraj Wahan Private Limited	2. Network Digitisation
8	Tc00038	Anamar Technologies Private Limited	2. Network Digitisation
9	Tc00049	Flyby Business Solutions Private Limited	2. Network Digitisation
10	Tc00150	Giskernel Technologies Llp	2. Network Digitisation
11	Tc00022	Kicktrans Technologies Private Limited	2. Network Digitisation
12	Tc00027	Redmond Techno Service (Opc) Private Limited	2. Network Digitisation
13	Tc00072	V Robotics Passenger Information Systems Private Limited	2. Network Digitisation
14	Tc00179	Yatri Buddy	2. Network Digitisation
15	Tc00195	Digiit Business Services Private Limited	3. Bus & Staff Scheduling
16	Tc00188	Innoctive Technologies Private Limited	3. Bus & Staff Scheduling
17	Tc00128	Salasar Ecommerce Total Solutions Private Limited	3. Bus & Staff Scheduling
18	Tc00156	V Robotics Passenger Information Systems Private Limited	3. Bus & Staff Scheduling
19	Tc00183	Yatri Buddy	3. Bus & Staff Scheduling
20	Tc00192	Aiq Connect Private Limited	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
21	Tc00051	Flyby Business Solutions Private Limited	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
22	Tc00046	Greatpelican Digital Systems Private Limited	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
23	Tc00110	Ravi Kumar	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
24	Tc00119	Ravity	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
25	Tc00029	Redmond Techno Service (Opc) Private Limited	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
26	Tc00164	Ushva Clean Technology Private Limited	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
27	Tc00180	Vrishchik Technologies Llp	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
28	Tc00191	Yatri Buddy	4. Transit Performance Monitoring
29	Tc00017	Aloha Tech Ventures Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
30	Tc00093	Amiraj Wahan Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
31	Tc00039	Anamar Technologies Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
32	Tc00003	Appentus Technologies Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
33	Tc00136	Bhuvaneshwari K	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
34	Tc00194	Digiit Business Services Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
35	Tc00041	Hw Design Labs Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
36	Tc00034	Joyride	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
37	Tc00007	Mots (Metro Online Transit System) Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
38	Tc00144	Opulance Technologies Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
39	Tc00135	Prectech	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
40	Tc00139	Purelectron Innovation India (Opc) Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
41	Tc00030	Redmond Techno Service (Opc) Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
42	Tc00134	Salasar Ecommerce Total Solutions Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
43	Tc00151	Splenor Computers Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
44	Tc00056	Teer Mobility Solutions Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
45	Tc00152	Thinkseed Systems Pvt Ltd	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
46	Tc00023	V Robotics Passenger Information Systems Private Limited	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
47	Tc00169	Yatri Buddy	5. Passenger Information & Ticketing
48	Tc00026	Aloha Tech Ventures Private Limited	6. Grievance Redressal
49	Tc00196	Digiit Business Services Private Limited	6. Grievance Redressal
50	Tc00055	Flyby Business Solutions Private Limited	6. Grievance Redressal
51	Tc00098	Amiraj Wahan Private Limited	7. Bus Maintenance Scheduling
52	Tc00103	Qed Analyticals Limited Liability Partnership	7. Bus Maintenance Scheduling
53	Tc00100	Ravity	7. Bus Maintenance Scheduling
54	Tc00129	Salasar Ecommerce Total Solutions Private Limited	7. Bus Maintenance Scheduling
55	Tc00061	V Robotics Passenger Information Systems Private Limited	7. Bus Maintenance Scheduling
56	Tc00153	Vrishchik Technologies Llp	7. Bus Maintenance Scheduling
57	Tc00074	Agnibhu Technologies Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
58	Tc00002	Chalbo India Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
59	Tc00048	Flyby Business Solutions Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
60	Tc00076	Jm Fleet Operations Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
61	Tc00040	Kevolution Technologies Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
62	Tc00024	Meiro Mobility	8. Ipt Aggregator
63	Tc00133	My Taxi India Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
64	Tc00047	Onedi Smart Mobility Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
65	Tc00165	Palmgini Softwares Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
66	Tc00057	Paripalana Associates Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
67	Tc00137	Pulpit Mobility Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
68	Tc00059	Thinkcrazy Technologies Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
69	Tc00125	Wizzride Technologies Private Limited	8. Ipt Aggregator
70	Tc00159	Yatri Buddy	8. Ipt Aggregator

Background

With a decline in public transport ridership in Indian cities, we need to invest in public transport as a social good, completely revamp informal transit services, and prioritise digital innovation to improve user experience. The Transport4All Challenge aims to bring together cities, citizen groups, and startups to develop solutions that improve public transport to better serve the needs of all citizens.

At the core of the Challenge are citizens who will not only define the problems for which solutions shall be created but also help startups and cities to refine the solutions to meet their needs. The first edition of the Challenge focuses on digital innovation. 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 mobility. The solutions will make public transport—formal and informal— safe, convenient, and affordable for all. All the Smart Cities Mission cities, capitals of states and union territories (UTs), and all cities with a population of over five lakhs—are eligible for the Challenge.

Three Stages of the Challenge

The Transport4All through Digital Innovation Challenge comprises three stages:

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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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