Urban Mobility Lab launched in Bengaluru

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Rocky Mountain Institute IRMI) and Micelio in partnership with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and Department of Industries and Commerce (DIC), launched their Urban Mobility Lab in Bangalore to identify, develop, and implement mobility solutions that transform how people and goods move.

The two-day multi stakeholder workshop held February 19-20, 2020 witnessed 150 participants from the mobility ecosystem in Bengaluru who worked together to address system-level barriers and develop implementation plans for the city. The workshop has been conducted around six thematic areas —charging and battery swapping infrastructure, data-based solutions, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, first and last-mile connectivity, public transit, and urban final-mile delivery.

In his key note address, Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South said, “All transport agencies that we have, including our private operators must work in a coordinated fashion towards a common objective.”

We need to make our people use public transport and avoid private vehicles. We also need to look into increasing the size of the fleet in our city. What is lacking in the Indian context is the lack of specialists in managing urban mobility decisions which is a concern. Structural reforms should be undertaken imperatively and I am confident that the Urban Mobility Lab will go a long way in proposing concrete suggestions and solutions.”

Shreyas Shibulal, Founder & Director – Micelio, said, “The collaborative effort of the past six months bringing together all key stakeholders – the government, private sector, and civil society under one roof has been fruitful and it will eventually accelerate Bengaluru’s transition towards shared, clean and citizen-centric mobility.”

At the workshop, Akshima Ghate, RMI’s, Principal said the sustainable transportation is key to Bengaluru’s mobility goals and we’re glad that we are making progress together.”

Urban Mobility Lab

The Urban Mobility Lab is a platform that helps leading urban geographies, called Lighthouse Cities, identify, integrate, implement, and scale mobility solutions that transform how people and goods move. The Lab was launched in November 2017, when NITI Aayog and RMI launched a grand challenge to select the first host city.

Since 2017, RMI has partnered with the Delhi Government and Pune Municipal Corporation to co-host the Lab in Delhi and Pune.