The global pandemic has had a massive socio-economic impact on the urban mobility sector. As the government eases lockdown measures, urban mobility is becoming a huge focus of anxiety, with a large number of people considering when and how to resume travel. This implies that the transport system will have to be re-designed such that passengers are at a safe enough distance from each other. Serious questions like: will personal vehicles become the safest means to travel? What about the safety of people who cannot afford personal vehicles? What will happen to the present mode of public transport, will need answers. This report titled, “Resetting for Urban Mobility 2020+ in India” discusses challenges brought in the urban mobility space by the COVID-19 pandemic. The document highlights the key measures to be taken at both the government and individual levels as public transportation across the globe begins to unlock. Viewpoints from London, Singapore, and India – on the future of urban planning and public transport in response to the ongoing pandemic have also been discussed in this document. Experts from these counties contribute to a deeper understanding of safety measures adopted.

1. Future of Mobility and Transport Series
Resetting India for Urban
Mobility 2020+
An approach paper

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The Institution of Engineering and Technology
The IET is one of the world’s largest professional societies for engineers, headquartered in the UK. Soon to turn
150 years, the IET works closely with industry, academia and government in its mission to engineer a better
world. In line with this, the IET also has specific global initiatives around key sectors that are relevant to solving
problems that impact the society at large. In India, the IET has over 13,000 members and has wide ranging
activities in alignment with the overall global IET strategy that also includes sector focus in areas such as Future
technologies. Future of Mobility and Transport, as well as the Future of Work. Eminent engineers like Shri
Ratan Tata, Former Chairman Tata Sons, N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys and T V
Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum (Ex-Resident Director, Vodafone) are Honorary Fellows of
the IET.
With our members, we are driving innovation and change in the fields of engineering and technology. We
research, investigate, review and analyse the industry’s challenges, proposing solutions that will have a
significant impact on the world for years to come.
This document is a part of our Future of Mobility and Transport series as we debate on ways to adjust with the
new normal. The IET has been curating expert views and presenting them to our partners on multiple platforms
in multiple formats – digitally. This includes our expert webinars that occur once a week – titled IET India Digital
Conversations and IET India Digital Debates, Walk the Tech Talk series in collaboration with India Automated
that goes Live on our social media platforms, podcast series, white papers and approach papers etc. This paper
summarises our Digital Conversations the titled ‘Resetting for Urban Mobility 2020+ in India'.
Read more about our Future Technology focus as well as our panels here: https://india.theiet.org/innovation-
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Introduction
India’s growing urbanisation has presented crucial challenges to its mobility ecosystem. As consequences of
ever increasing population and growing income levels, urban India now demands 8X more transportation
facilities compared to 1980, as per World Bank estimates. This has further led to myriad of mobility related
challenges such as pollution and traffic congestion. A 2018 WHO report pegs that, 14 out of top-15 most-
polluted cities in the world are in India. The adverse effects of congestion are carried forward to productivity and
economic growth. As per the BCG-Uber report, the combined estimate of losses caused due to congestion in
the top-four metro cities of India is worth more than $22 billion per annum. Ramping up, optimising and
promoting green, clean mobility as well as public transport and shared mobility should assume highest priority
for a country like India.
The COVID 19 pandemic has altered urban life as we knew it. Work from home seems to be the new normal for
those who can afford it and for whom it is a feasible option. Millions of small businesses and workers that make
these urban centres work have been adversely affected. Lack of essential services such as water, housing, and
health care, has worsened the challenge of responding effectively to the pandemic in many cities. This has
made complying with lockdown guidelines difficult with in some places. A holistic approach to planning with an
infrastructure that supports better health, water management, and mitigation strategies is the need of the hour.
We need to empower our cities with more intricate, regularly updated data banks that can provide better
evidence for decision making during such unprecedented times.
This episode of the IET India Digital Conversations series titled “Resetting for Urban Mobility 2020+ in India” on
June 19, 2020 discussed challenges brought in in the urban mobility space by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
document highlights the key measures to be taken at both the government and individual levels as public
transportation across the globe begins to unlock. Viewpoints from London, Singapore, and India –on the future
of urban planning and public transport in response to the ongoing pandemic have also been discussed in this
document. Experts from these counties contribute to a deeper understanding of safety measures adopted.
Resetting for Urban Mobility 2020+ in India
The future of urban planning and public transport

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Key Takeaways
The key takeaways from this session were:
• Urban cities and planning – the economic hub
Urban cities and in turn public transport in these cities utilise resources efficiently, contribute to
productivity and economic activity. There seems to be no parallel to this even post the
pandemic and countries should shift focus on other challenges as well, road accidents being
one among them. Citizens between the age group of 21 to 44 who contribute most to the
economic activity seem to be the majority among the road accidents victims which needs to be
prioritised.
Urban planning needs to done keeping in mind both current as well as anticipated needs of the
future.
While the electrification debate is gathering momentum in India as EV targets for personal
vehicles are proposed. However, we need to take cognisance that electrification does not solve
the congestion problem. Focus should be on electrification of public transport, augmented by
first and last mile connectivity by mirco-mobility solutions. These can find applications in rural
India as well.

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• Lifestyle changes
The pandemic has brought about changes in the way we work. It is a reality that most residents
of Urban India are migrants from smaller towns and the prolonged lockdown situation has led to
professionals beginning to explore opportunities of working from their hometowns in addition to
their urban homes. Commute levels are lower which brings out serious questions on the
financial viability of public transport that requires government funding as it cannot generate
commercial profits on its own.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, two wheelers are not only being used for personal mobility
but significantly for delivery of services at the consumers’ doorstep. This has presented new
opportunities for shared mobility players – from moving people to moving things.
Governments worldwide need to work towards promoting public transport among its anxious
citizens, and give them the confidence that apt measures are being taken to ensure their
safety. . This short-term crisis should not deter us from our long-term focus on our urban
planning and public transport which require decades of planning. Climate change and
electrification of transport vehicles should continue to gain focus even post the pandemic. Like
every other segment of the society, urban planning will need to plan a future where it coexists
with the pandemic.
• Learnings exchanged
An important use-case from Singapore around private vehicle ownership is that the country has
succeeded in capping private vehicle ownership to just about 0.25% and invested heavily in
public transport which includes both metros and buses. Though there has been a decline in the
usage of public transport since the outbreak of the pandemic, authorities are hopeful that the
mid-long term usage rates will resume normal levels. Singapore may witness a focus shift from
its core central cities which were hitherto responsible for economic productivity to development
of regional cities in the long run.
The Singapore government is trying to strike a balance between the economic activity and
public health as they come out of their lockdown period. The government has gotten back to
opening public transport while embracing key safety measures. These include usage of contact
tracing apps and regular sanitisation drills. They are also encouraging citizens to not indulge in
conversations while afoot a public transport.

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• Communication is Key
For civic authorities, governments and town planners, it has become even more important to
engage in intense communication with their citizens as economies begin to unlock. To draw an
example from London when non-essential retail was scheduled to start functioning post the
lockdown, the government had discussions where it advised the shop owners to revisit their
working hours such that number of citizens utilising public transport is limited during peak
hours. As schools begin to open, the government is cognisant to engage in a dialogue with the
parents to ensure that guidelines are being followed and there is mutual exchange of feedback.
Shifting focus to Karnataka – India, the government has been having constant dialogue with
residential welfare associations and commuters and is planning to intensify its communication
campaign with the larger community to ensure a smooth transition and behavioural change
towards public transport. The state-run bus transport system is taking all precautionary and
safety measures as they resume operations. The public transport system in Karnataka has
seen a significant drop in their revenue as 60% of their income comes in from the student
community which includes both schools. Timely government funding has helped them tide over
some challenges.
The Karnataka government is optimistic about resuming demand for public transport and will
focus on expanding its operations. Focus on urban planning and public transport continues to
be a priority as congestion eases due to lockdown measures where persona-based mapping is
being leveraged to strategise development measures. Drawing example from London and
Singapore in terms of reclaiming road space for public transport, the Karnataka government is
also working towards making bus lanes and pop up cycle lanes operational in high density
corridors and it also hopes to replicate it across the state.
• Micro mobility shared platforms
Firms providing micro mobility services support the public transport infrastructure as it enables
citizens to get to the metro / bus station to avail these services. A leading micro mobility sharing
platform in Bengaluru has been enabling health care workers and banking professionals to get
to their offices using their electric two wheeler mobility services as a substitute to public
transport. This firm ensures that sanitisation is maintained using WHO certified disinfectants
and displays a time stamp of the last clean up activity thereby gaining trust amongst its users.
This is one of the best practices that other cities, the government, and firms providing similar
services could follow to promote public transport which has taken a back seat.

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Speakers
If you have a question or query, please feel free to reach out to us at sectors@theiet.in. Read more about our
work at india.theiet.org
Colin Lim,
Ex-MD,
Singapore Mass
Rapid
Transport
Corporation
(SMRTC)
Shashi Verma,
Director of strategy
and CTO,
Transport for
London
V Manjula, I.A.S
Commissioner & ACS to
Government,
Directorate of Urban
Land Transport (DULT),
Government of Karnataka
Amit Gupta
Co-Founder & CEO,
Yulu
Mustafa Wajid
Chair, Steering
Committee,
IET FoMT Focus;
CEO, Meher Group