Blogs

This blog post originally appeared on Insights.

As India’s summer intensifies, many states are already in the midst of a drought—and the hottest days have yet to arrive. At the same time, water-intensive agriculture, rapid urban expansion, increases in industrial activity and growing energy production are driving the country’s water demand...

This blog post originally appeared on Insights.

India has some of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy goals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to boost India's solar energy generation capacity from 5.8 gigawatts (GW) in 2014 to 100 GW by 2022. As part of the Paris Agreement, India...

This blog post originally appeared on Insights.

One city in India is swapping its cars for bikes.

WRI India and Nagarro Software, in partnership with Udaan NGO and NASSCOM Foundation, recently launched the Seeds for Change project in Gurugram, India, reclaiming four car parking spots to make space for 40 bicycles. The...

If you’re a user of public transport in India, you’re statistically most likely to take the bus. A recent National Sample Survey Office report indicated that buses are the most frequently cited mode of transport across both rural and urban areas, with close to two-thirds of respondents reporting travel by bus. In smaller towns and cities with minimal suburban rail facilities, buses serve as the sole mode of formal public transport, and even in Delhi – which has an excellent metro rail...

While COP21 in Paris in December 2015 was a fast-paced landmark agreement, COP22 in Marrakech in November 2016 was more nuanced and difficult to follow, even for those on the ground. The Paris Agreement, entered into force on 04 November 2016, demonstrated concerted political support for climate action. However, in the weeks and months following COP22, the impact of the results of the US elections left people wondering if Marrakech had helped in taking the spirit of Paris forward, or had it begun to fizzle out?

While...

In response to the burgeoning problem of air pollution, cities around the world have identified motor vehicles as a significant contributor to poor air quality. To address this issue, cities are piloting measures to shift people to public transport and restrict single occupancy vehicles in urban centers. For example, several trials have been launched in Paris since December 2016, ranging from a move to make public transport...

India's urban population is expected to reach 600 million by 2031. Providing infrastructure to accommodate this growth will be a huge task. The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) is encouraging Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) as one of its strategies for sustainable urban growth. There has been increased interest in India for scaling-up TOD projects in order to...

Imagine hailing a bus through a smartphone application in India for that daily commute from home to college or work.

On-demand transportation leverages technology to connect a bus in the vicinity with a passenger looking to travel in the same direction This implies following a demand responsive route to a pre-determined destination, finding passengers along the way. In contrast, conventional public buses ply along fixed corridors in a city, expecting to be found by commuters.

Convenient pick up aside, on-demand buses provide their passengers the assurance of seating for the...

On November 8, 2016, WRI India Sustainable Cities and Zehn Legal hosted part two of a two-part webinar series on the applicability of regulatory frameworks governing motor vehicles for on-demand taxi aggregators and other shared mobility enterprises in India. Part one of the series focused specifically on the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 and...

The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 is the principal act of the Parliament of India that governs and regulates the road transport ecosystem in the country. It was enforced in June 1989 and is the go-to legislation for the granting of permits, registration of motor vehicles, licensing of drivers and conductors, insurance, liability, offences and penalties, and so on.

Over the last few years, many new business models have emerged that allow commuters to summon mobility options using services built on technology and innovative business models. However, the legality of these models are...