HVT research was presented at the 17th Urban Mobility India conference this week, at a roundtable discussion focusing on greener electromobility, organised by CEPT University Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) and the Urban Catalysts.
The session, entitled ‘Standardising mobility systems in core areas of Indian cities’, prompted a lively panel discussion around low emission zones (LEZ) and linkages to inclusion and climate mitigation.
A flagship event held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and supported by the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the conference was designed to inform policymakers in Indian cities about best urban transport practices. It was attended by key transport planners and decision makers alongside experts, academics and professionals from India and around the world.
Opening remarks were made by Ashwini Kumar (IAS), Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department (UD & UHD), Gujarat followed by an introduction to the HVT programme and the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) by Moumita Bhattacharya, Senior Advisor, Economics, Climate and Development – Gujarat and Rajasthan, British Deputy High Commission Ahmedabad.
HVT research was presented by researchers, including Surya Sugathan, Senior Transport Planner, CoE-UT, CRDF, Ahmedabad who outlined the findings from CEPT’s work creating a planning framework for low emission zones (LEZ) in core areas of Indian cities. Based on a literature review of international and national cases, key intervention measures for introducing low emission zones were identified in the study, using Ahmedabad as a case study.
Kalpana Viswanath, CEO and founder of social enterprise, Safetipin, and HVT ambassador, shared insights from HVT’s work, exploring further whether LEZ can work in the Indian context and whether they can be designed to be inclusive. Referring to work from Ahmedabad carried out by The Urban Lab, and from Delhi and Chennai, implemented by The Urban Catalysts (TUC), she and her co-panelists discussed different modes of public transport and the integration of electric vehicles as a key solution to reducing air pollution.
This was picked up by Sonal Shah and Manisha Sharma of TUC who shared their work on inclusion and access in Indian cities with a focus on safe and secure e-bus systems. This included the launch of the final report of the HVT T-TRIID project exploring safe and secure public transport for women in Delhi.