B.PAC and Uber release the ‘Sustainable Mobility for Bengaluru’ report

March 11, 2019: Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) in partnership with Uber released a research report highlighting several measures to promote sustainable mobility in one of India’s most congested cities, Bengaluru. The report also identified current challenges the city faces, suggesting public-private collaboration could be instrumental in improving the city’s mobility patterns.

The launch of the report concluded a nine-month partnership between B.PAC and Uber, which included a series of workshops and roundtable discussions, engaging stakeholders, elected representatives, and administrators in the state to rethink mobility solutions for enhancing the quality of travel for commuters in Bengaluru.

Commenting on the launch of the research report, Prabhjeet Singh, Head of Cities, India and South Asia said, “Uber’s partnership with B.PAC has been invaluable in understanding how we can contribute to improving Bengaluru’s mobility infrastructure. We are always looking to forge innovative partnerships that will help us redefine urban mobility across India. We are confident that our research report will facilitate dialogue amongst stakeholders to discuss the mobility challenges that the city faces and find sustainable solutions to transform the mobility ecosystem in Bengaluru.” 

Sharing her views on the partnership with Uber, Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee & CEO, B.PAC said, “This initiative is what Bengaluru city needs as the government, public officials, private sector, citizen groups and citizens have all been included to not only understand the city’s mobility but also work collaboratively towards finding solutions in an inclusive manner. The study was conducted through workshops and panel discussion over relevant topics that affects Bengaluru’s mobility and it has thrown interesting insights which could solve the mobility problems and we continue to work with the government institutions in the future towards effective implementations.”

The report themed ‘Sustainable Mobility in Bengaluru’ highlights the following strategic insights that can be implemented through joint action for maximum impact:

• Public-private partnership to improve transport infrastructure

The need for government authorities to look at public-private collaboration and work collectively to build a strong public transport network in the city. Integrating efficient, affordable and safe first and last-mile solutions to build continuity on transit is the key to encouraging the use of public transport over private vehicles. Another step to consider is putting in place a secure data sharing mechanism to allow private players like Uber to share insight into travel data that could help identify mobility patterns and challenges in the city and further assist those portions of the transportation network that are struggling the most.

• Policy support to improve urban commute

Incentivising shift from private to public transport requires strong policy support promoting shared mobility services across different modes of transport. This can be achieved by authorizing private players to run shuttle, bike and auto-sharing, as well as carpooling services in the state.

• Promoting early electric adoption

Tracking green trips and green miles travelled instead of the number of electric vehicles (EV) on the road will be a better indicator of the EV ecosystem in the state and incentivising every kilometre run will encourage commercial fleets for early adoption. The report also proposed better financial models to minimize the high upfront cost of the vehicle and battery. Additionally, providing incentives for electric vehicles and batteries as separate entities has the potential to accelerate adoption considerably.

The report is a promising step forward towards achieving Sustainable Mobility for Bengaluru and requires the implementation of the above strategic insights with joint cooperation from the public and private stakeholders.

Click here to access the full report

Click to access the presentation on the initiative

Kanika malhotra, Head – South India & Sri Lanka, Uber; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, President, B.PAC; Chand Tulal Mazumdar, Public Policy, India & South Asia, Uber; Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee& CEO, B.PAC released the report of Sustainable Mobility for Bengaluru report

Panelists: L to R – Moderator: Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee & CEO, B.PAC; N A Haris, MLA, Shantinagar Constituency; Bhaskar Rao, IPS Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City; RK Misra, Member, B.PAC; Alok Prasanna Kumar, Senior Resident Fellow & Team Lead, Vidhi Karnataka, Chand Tulal Mazumdar, Public Policy, India & South Asia, Uber; Anand G C, MICELIO

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