Planning Towards Sustainability: The Path of India’s Urban Mobility

Appropriately planned, designed and implemented; urban mobility can assist is pursuing  goals towards a more sustainable network that is able to bring a myriad of benefits that embraces social inclusion, reduced environmental degradation, and economic growth.

Extracted from Toolkit for Urban Development: Comprehensive Mobility Plan

With the assistance of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Institute of Urban Transport (and other partners), India’s Ministry of Urban Development contributed to the revision of a toolkit entitled “Toolkits for Urban Development: Comprehensive Mobility Plans” – which was first published in 2008. Some of the objectives of this Comprehensive Mobility Plan focuses on transport modelling (surveying, forecasting), measuring emissions, and to integrated transport planning and land use management. It is therefore envisioned that such objectives creates an outcome that produces and efficient private and public transport network and system – which includes efficient private vehicle traffic management, enhanced public transport planning and management as well as implementing non-motorized transport initiatives. With objectives and outcomes such as these it would be easy to envision a possible future that produces an economic, social and an environmental sustainability.

Although revised by the Indian Ministry of Urban Development, with its partners, the target users of this toolkit includes town planners, policy makers, governmental authorities (especially that of cities) and consultants – supposedly to synchronize the planning paradigm.

The toolkit further includes other items that takes the user through the Preparation Process and Task Descriptions with annexures of examples to survey forms and project sheets to name a few.

Finally, with regards to the identification and Prioritization of projects, the toolkit establishes within its priority list that there are short-, medium-, and long-term measures that need to be considered. One Short-term measure is aimed at improving the immediate (0 – 2 years) safety and improved accessibility of pedestrians. A medium-term measure (3 – 5 years) concentrates within corridor scaled projects, therefore considering fleet improvements, transit scheduling and bicycle networks. Long-term measures are (5 – 10 years) regarded as action required that will eventually produce what was envisioned when such CMP’s are prepared with items that influence regulations, overall accessibility and improved standards within current urban areas and future developments.

Please use the following links for more information about the Toolkit and other sources about the future of India’s urban mobility:

Press Release: India's Urban Mobility Plans Pathway to Sustainability
Article: The Future of Low Carbon Transport in India
Document: Toolkit for Urban Transport Development