Technical Support
Technical expertise for on-ground implementation
By providing technical expertise to national, state, and city governments, ITDP India has supported the design and implementation of sustainable transport projects and successfully catalysed transformation in over 35 cities across the country.
Since 2020, ITDP India has been supporting over 130 Indian cities through three ambitious national initiatives launched in collaboration with the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs—the India Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All Challenges. The Challenges aimed to support Indian cities to improve cycling, walking, and create robust public transport systems.
We are dedicated to supporting urban planners, policymakers, and transport agencies with the technical support they need to implement sustainable transport solutions effectively.
We offer technical assistance in seven broad areas: creating Healthy Streets prioritising walking and cycling; creating safe, accessible, and reliable Public Transport; Traffic Reduction for congestion- and pollution-free streets; Electric Mobility and Low Emission Zones for a cleaner future, Transit Oriented Development for creating compact cities; and Inclusive Mobility to ensure we create cities that work for everyone.
Policy Development
Policy development for institutional reform
National, state, and city level policies play a important role in shaping the future of urban mobility in Indian cities—setting a vision for the city, charting a path for future development, and prioritising the actions for the cities to undertake. ITDP India provides policy support to governments at all three levels for the development of policies that prioritise sustainable, equitable, and inclusive urban mobility.
Over the last 25 years, ITDP India has supported the development of many first-of-its-kind policies across the country. This includes supporting Chennai to adopt India’s first Non-Motorised Transport Policy, supporting Jharkhand to become the first Indian state to adopt an inclusive Transit-Oriented Development Policy, and supporting Pune to adopt the country’s first Urban Street Design Guidelines that prioritise walking and cycling.
Through or two national initiatives with the Smart Cities Mission—the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges—ITDP India has supported 15 Indian cities across the country to develop and adopt Healthy Streets Policies, with 15 more cities in the process of adoption.
Capacity Development
Capacity Development through knowledge products, workshops, and study tours
As a global organisation at the forefront of innovation, we have developed knowledge products that serve as references for best practices in sustainable urban mobility for cities across the country.
Knowledge Products:
In collaboration with national agencies, ITDP India has developed various resources including the Complete Street Framework Toolkit for the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; multiple guidelines for the Indian Roads Congress such as the Bus Rapid Transit Guidelines and the Manual for Planning and Design of Urban Roads and Streets; and the national Guidelines for Public Bicycle Sharing for the Ministry of Urban Development.
Over the years, we have also developed a series of easy-to-read illustrated guides breaking down complex topics in urban mobility. This includes E-Bus Basics, a step-by-step guide to planning, procuring, and rolling out e-buses prepared in collaboration with the national Association for State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU), an apex body of all public bus operators in the country. Our other guides include Footpath Fix, Parking Basics, and Congestion Pricing Basics.
Capacity Building Programs and Workshops:
Creating a lasting transformation in urban mobility across India requires increased capacity of decision makers and city officials to envision, plan, and implement sustainable mobility initiatives. Through focussed capacity development programmes, ITDP India has trained over 6000 government officials, engineers, stakeholders, and practitioners in sustainable mobility best practices.
SInce 2020, through our three national initiatives in collaboration with the Smart Cities Mission—the India Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All Challenges—ITDP India has trained city officials from over 130 cities across India participating in these initiatives.
By fostering capacity building, we envision creating a community of champions for sustainable urban mobility who are well-poised and prepared to create a more sustainable future for Indian cities.
Effective Communication
Effective Communication and Outreach to garner support for sustainable mobility initiatives
The growth of cities and their mobility is shaped by the stories we tell about their future. Decades of car-centric narratives have led to our mobility in our cities being planned as channels for efficiently moving vehicles, not as spaces for people to live and move. The transformation of urban mobility in Indian cities will also require a shift towards more people-centric narratives.
Effective communications and outreach can play a key role in the success of sustainable mobility initiatives in our cities by ensuring that all stakeholders who will be impacted by the implementation of any project know and clearly understand its impacts. During the initiation of projects, this can ensure that multiple stakeholders in the city—citizens, city officials, civil society organisations, institutions, media—are all aligned on a common vision to reduce pushback. Sustained communications and engagement with the public can also help address their concerns, build their ownership of the project, and build the momentum for future scale-up of initiatives.
We support city agencies working on sustainable mobility initiatives to build their capacity to develop and roll out comprehensive strategies for stakeholder communications—including identifying their target audiences, selecting appropriate channels, and developing the right key messages.
With support from ITDP India, the Greater Chennai Corporation successfully developed and rolled out a communication strategy to build public support and reduce pushback for the creation of their flagship Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza. The city engaged with their key stakeholders and addressed their concerns through a variety of communication efforts—including conducting print media and radio outreach to inform citizens about the benefits of the project and trial runs for them to experience the transformation beforehand.
In collaboration with the national Association for State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU)—an apex body of all public bus operators—ITDP India is building the capacity of bus operators across the country in effective communications to inform and engage with their riders and ensure the public transport service reaches the people it is supposed to serve.
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Overall, ITDP India’s work spans across technical, policy, capacity building, and communication aspects of sustainable transportation planning and implementation. Through our efforts, we aim to create Healthy Streets, Healthy Cities, Happy Lives.