Experts to Build New Bus Service for Gurgaon
New Delhi. Wednesday, 1 July 2015: A two-day workshop, Talking Transit, starting tomorrow is bringing together national experts to design a new bus service for the city of Gurgaon. Results will benefit lakhs of Gurgoan residents, who must depend on autorickshaws and skeletal bus services run by the state of Haryana for public transport.
Vikas Gupta (IAS) Municipal Commissioner, Gurgaon will speak at the opening session, along with SK Patra, Technical Director, ASRTU, RK Kataria (IAS) MD, KSRTC, and Amit Bhatt, Strategy Head – Urban Transport, EMBARQ-WRI India.
While the workshop has a key deliverable in terms of a new bus service for Gurgaon, the panel will also highlight the challenges and opportunities involved in establishing a reliable and convenient public bus network for the city. Participants will learn how to design a modern city bus service.
Expertise at the event will be provided by EMBARQ, in partnership with the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation. Technical aspects such as route planning, monitoring systems, support infrastructure, and financial sustainability will be discussed in the context of Gurgaon. The process will also draw on the experience of bus services in cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and others.
Says Amit Bhatt of EMBARQ, the sustainable transport programme of WRI India: “Evidence shows that building a reliable and high quality bus-based public transport network is often the key to jumpstarting a city’s transformation into a Smart City” – an idea that his team hopes to promote as more than 100 cities in India begin their transformation under the Prime Minister’s flagship Smart Cities programme.
Last year, EMBARQ India published the second part of its bus operations guidebook series entitled ‘Bus Karo 2.0: Case Studies from India’ which outlined significant advancements in bus transport in India. The guide includes examples of pilot implementations and case studies to assess the successes and challenges of projects around the country, and will be a key resource at the event.
The workshop is part of EMBARQ’s Talking Transit series, a part of the Bus Karo initiative. Bus Karo aims to facilitate a peer-to-peer network that encourages shared learning between city bus agencies from around the country.
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World Resources Institute is a global research organisation that spans more than 50 countries, with offices in the United States, China, India, Brazil, and more. Our more than 450 experts and staff work closely with leaders to turn big ideas into action to sustain our natural resources—the foundation of economic opportunity and human well-being. www.wri.org
EMBARQ is WRI’s global sustainable urban mobility practice that helps cities make sustainable transport a reality. Founded in 2002, EMBARQ is part of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. WRI Sustainable Cities works in Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and Turkey. EMBARQ collaborates with local and national authorities, businesses, academics and civil society to reduce pollution, improve public health, and create safe, accessible and attractive urban public spaces and integrated transport systems. www.embarq.org
EMBARQ India has been actively promoting the development of sustainable transport in a number of Indian cities, its projects and research work spans various fields, like bus operations; Bus Rapid Transit; road safety audits; transit oriented development; station accessibility; non-motorised transport; and para-transit services. EMBARQ India also works actively in the areas of research and policy for sustainable transport. www.embarqindia.org
Contact: Divya Kottadiel dkottadiel@wri.org | +91 9980531735
