Shri Hardeep S. Puri, MoS (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has stated that “Future mobility is about striving towards environment-friendly, integrated, automated and personalized travel on-demand. New advancements like intelligent transportation systems, and traffic management applications are in the pipeline for enhanced mobility in major cities.”   He was speaking at the 13th Urban Mobility India Conference on the theme of “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” here today.  Prof. Jan Gehl (यान गेहल), Founder and Senior Advisor, M/s Gehl, Mr Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (जों बापटिस्ट जेबारी), Minister Delegate for Transport, Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Government of France, Dr. Claudia Warning, Director-General GIZ, Shri D S Mishra, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs attended the Conference.  Besides, senior Officers of the Ministry were also present at the Conference. 

          Addressing the Conference, the Minister said that in the aftermath of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, India is likely to experience a behavioral change in urban mobility. This crisis also presents an opportunity to guide the recovery of urban transport towards long-term development goals. As articualted by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi that the present crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat', and the time being ripe enough to make bold decisions and investments. To my friends from abroad, Atma Nirbhar Bharat essentially means “self-reliant India”.  Investment in infrastructure to address more effective circulation and interchange of people and goods will have an economic multiplier effect — both job-creation in the present and boosting growth and productivity in the future.

          India is witnessing the arrival of a new generation of mobility discourses, which are nuanced enough to provide sustainable urban mobility. The Ministry has issued a detailed advisory, as to how the nation needs to move ahead in these testing times. It rests on three key pillars, namely, promotion of public transport system, leveraging technological advancements and penetration of NMT systems in the urban transport paradigm.  Various studies show that about 16-57% of urban commuters are pedestrian and about 30-40% of commuters use bicycles in the country depending on the size of the city. Considering this as an opportunity, elevating the priority of these modes gives travelers another private vehicle alternative, which is clean, safe, secured particularly if it is integrated with other modes and affordable for all. Non-motorised transport will occupy the prime, non-negotiable, position in every form of urban mobility discourse and intervention. During the Conference, Awards for innovations in Urban Transport during Covid-19 were also announced and are enclosed: 

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 RJ