The struggling bus transport sector has received a massive blow due to the Covid-19 crisis. It is estimated that the bus transport sector will lose around Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2020 due to no and low-ridership amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Ajay Nagpure, Nitya Kaushik, June 05, 2020, News 18

With new studies linking Covid-19 risk to bad air, India must collect and systematically study data from before, during and after the lockdown, and develop long-term strategies to reduce both indoor and outdoor pollution.

Across the world, cities are using this opportunity to rebuild smarter and more efficient public system. Meanwhile, India is witnessing increased use of personal vehicles.

New mobility companies, such as operators of ride-hailing apps, vehicle-sharing networks, and route planners, are poised to become a more sought-after option in the post-lockdown commute.

Dr. OP Agarwal (CEO, WRI India) focuses on how transport systems must be so designed that passengers are at a safe enough distance from each other.

To kick start our economy while adhering to social distancing, it is important for us to be open to new ideas, adapt smartly and reinvent our urban mobility system writes Dr. OP Agarwal (CEO, WRI India).

Public spaces bind communities, they are the lungs of a city, but the current reality has nudged people to question the impact of public spaces on their health and well-being.

As social distancing continues into the foreseeable future, streamlining other aspects of metro operation such as crowd management, last-mile connectivity, and air-conditioning and ventilation will be vital.

Madhav Pai writes about how in the new normal in Mumbai, social distancing will demand that only 50 people commute at any given time in a 74-seat coach. In the new system, trains will have to halt a little longer at each station to allow people to alight and board smoothly in a queue.

Amit Bhatt writes about how transport is a derived demand, which means that people and goods don’t use it just for its sake, but for what it produces. Delhi metro, he notes, will have to boost capacity six times to keep passengers safe.

Rejeet Mathews and Akanksha Gupta write that it is now time for us to construct cities in a sustainable and equitable way, in tune with the local climate as well as the immunity, health and well-being of its people.

OP Agarwal (CEO, WRI India) and Kunal Kumar (Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission) write that in the ongoing pandemic, India has managed to keep the number of those infected relatively low, despite its high population density.

Amit Bhatt writes on how as India moves forward towards an electric journey; it needs a strategy based on its unique mobility characteristics. Amit Bhatt writes on how as India moves forward towards an electric journey; it needs a strategy based on its unique mobility characteristics.

WRI India’s aqueduct tools highlight how India ranks 13th for overall water stress and ‘has more than three times the population of the other 17 extremely highly stressed countries combined’ — which includes arid regions in West Asia and North Africa.

Amit Bhatt points out how Gurugram has tried to redesign some of its dangerous intersections but these trial designs barely lasted. So, why is safety, in road design, being ignored?

MoHUA, WRI India and Bernard van Leer Foundation launched the ITCN-Urban95 India Challenge – an open call for all Indian cities to plan and design cities with an infant, toddler and caregiver-centric (ITCN) approach.

The Rs. 4,400 crore allocated in the Union Budget for cleaning air in cities, can be a good beginning if used optimally. While this is a relatively modest allocation for the enormous task at hand, it sets a precedent, and has the potential to become a multi-year effort, writes Dr OP Agarwal.

Neha Yadav writes about how creating a trained workforce is vital for India to gain jobs from new and sustainable mobility and enable obsolete jobs to transition. She enlists three major trends that can inform this skilling trajectory aimed at creating clean and connected mobility system in Indian cities.

The Yulu bikes initiative is an outcome of the Station Access and Mobility Program (STAMP) challenge, which was conducted by MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) and WRI India.