Active Mobility, Sustainable cities and Urban planning in India
Ahmedabad’s Janmarg has undergone a significant operational shift in recent years by moving away from a closed Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) model towards a more flexible, shared system. In 2025, the city began allowing buses from the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service(AMTS) to operate BRT corridors on select routes. Around 90+ AMTS buses now use portions of the dedicated median lanes, stopping at BRT…
Large cities are steamrolling through Metro construction, with more lines being added every few months. Delhi/NCR is currently constructing more than 100 km, while Mumbai and Bengaluru have about 130 km and 80 km in progress, respectively. However, this is not the case for smaller cities that opted for a Metro; most have only a line or two, which barely impacts overall urban mobility. Meanwhile,…
By 2016, Sweden had deployed several electric buses across its cities from different manufacturers – including its very own Volvo. These buses had to be charged overnight at depots and then operated throughout the day. However, this wasn’t ideal, as buses had to return to depots to recharge, and each manufacturer required their own custom charging stations. Flash or opportunity charging technology…
Metro coaches don’t come in the same size or shape, but choosing the right configuration to match demand can make a significant difference to both the system’s efficiency and the passenger experience. In 2017, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released a rolling stock standardization document, recommending cities to choose between Type 1 and Type 2 coaches based on their specific needs.…
The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC), in collaboration with Central and Western Railways is embarking on an ambitious plan to build new suburban rail lines underground, while also relocating some existing ones. The project is part of a larger effort to add much-needed capacity to an already congested city. The organization is borrowing the learning and the experience from Mumbai Metro…
Congestion pricing has emerged as a powerful tool to combat rising traffic and gridlock in cities worldwide. It began with just a handful of cities in the late 2000s but has gained momentum in recent years, especially after the pandemic. New York City rolled it out in January this year, despite consistent pushback from residents and political parties. There are now plans to apply this strategy to…
I just finished a short trip to Stockholm, and it left me with a sinking feeling about how under invested our cities are in public transport. With roughly 2.5 million residents, Stockholm – the capital of Sweden – falls into the category of fairly large European cities. It puts it on par with some of our Tier 2/3 cities in India – population-wise. Like most cities across the world, Stockholm…
We need to take a hard look at our ring roads in our cities because they have become safety hazards, are poorly implemented, and have contributed to unplanned growth around them. As the city grows and traffic increases, the first response from administrators is to build a ring road. And when the first ring road gets absorbed into the expanding city, the demand for a second, outer ring road begins…
Being suspended in the air and transporting people on cables isn’t a brand new idea — it dates back to the 1960s when Swiss national Gerhard Mueller invented the “Aerobus,” a suspended transit system designed to glide above city streets. Aerobus makers pitched this new mode to cities as a game changer – a futuristic solution that would revolutionize urban transit, and fix all their traffic…
I am a big fan of trams, and in my recent trip to Turkey, I got an opportunity to experience Istanbul’s very own tramway system that was brought back in operation in 1992, after having retired it in 1966. Besides trams, Istanbul has a full metro system, a ferry service linking its Asian and European sides, and a large bus fleet serving its residents’ needs. There are currently five tram lines, T1…