Are Indian Cities Moving Towards Sustainable Transportation?
byKanika Jindal
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This webinar was hosted on Thursday, 15 September 2016 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm IST (local time) and was presented by Paulo Sergio Custodio, an eminent transport consultant from Brazil. Pawan Mulukutla, Manager - Urban Transport, WRI India, moderated the session.
Urbanization in India has accelerated at an unprecedented rate in the recent years. Approximately 300 million people are expected to be added to the country’s urban population over the next three decades. The exponential increase in the number of vehicles and overutilization of existing road infrastructure has led to widespread traffic congestion in most Indian cities. A proactive approached is needed in these cities to address the growing demand for mobility. Conventional approaches adopted in the past by the urban local bodies – such as constructing flyovers and widening roads – have failed to yield tangible results. In April 2015, the government of India committed to allocating 1 trillion Indian Rupees to improve urban services over the next 5 years in 600 cities – through the AMRUT and SMART cities mission. What steps can Indian cities take to facilitate sustainable transportation and mobility, given the increasing level of urbanization?
Through this webinar, Mr. Paulo Sergio Custodio, who has more than 40 years of experience working in 3 continents in field of sustainable transport, highlighted several global best practices and key learnings that Indian cities can implement to catalyze urban development towards smart and sustainable transportation solutions. Mr. Custodio has been a technical advisor to over 100 cities globally in the planning and execution of sustainable transport projects.