INTERVIEW
All decisions of implementing transportation projects should be backed by studies and justification: Rupa Nandy UITP is internationally recognized for its work in advancing the sustainable urban mobility as a critical policy agenda. It is, perhaps, the only worldwide network to bring together all public transport stakeholders and sustainable transport modes, with an agenda of enhancing the quality of life and economic well-being of the masses by promoting sustainable public transport. Urban Transport News interacted with Ms. Rupa Nandy, who is Head of UITP India office and taking part in various initiatives of Govt. of India towards advancing the sustainable urban transport system in India. Here are the excerpts: How long have you been in the public transport industry? Tell us about your journey in this industry and your role in UITP in brief. In the industry it has been about 19 years now which includes about 7 years of studies. My first rendezvous with Urban Transport was in my first year of college when I was studying Bachelor of Planning in School of Planning and Architecture. Every semester had a component of Urban Transportation. After my Bachelors I went into specialising in Urban Planning which again followed the same pattern. My first work in public transportation was when I was working in a infrastructure consultancy firm on JNNURM projects.
48
The next stint was in DIMTS for 5 years, which has its core in Public Transportation from planning to operations – the full lifecycle of public transportation. I left DIMTS to do my full time MBA at Indian School of Business and even there I was actively involved with the infrastructure club. I have worked with Ola for about an year and learnt how the new mobility players operate in this ecosystem. I joined UITP in the beginning of this year and its been a fascinating ride since then. Please brief our readers about the role of UITP in India. How does UITP help policymakers in the planning of urban mobility projects in the country? UITP is the only worldwide network to bring together all public transport stakeholders and all sustainable transport modes. UITP has three main functions as its core -Advocacy and Outreach, Network, Knowledge Sharing. In India also UITP follows the same core. We help various public transport players to come together by providing various platforms for them to interact. We have a huge knowledge base that is readily available and all our members can access them to learn not only from developed countries on the efficient public transportation they have but also how developing countries are moving forward and growing themselves to provide adequate systems to their residents. We have various working bodies and groups within UITP that keeps producing cutting edge research on latest transportation issues. We help authorities in India to
Urban Transport Infrastructure // JANUARY 2020
connect with their counterparts within India as well as abroad to learn from their experiences. We have year round trainings across the world in which many of our Indian members participate and learn. Recently UITP was also part of the screening committee for selection of cities under the FAME Scheme. We also have a few research projects within India on electric buses and through them we are trying to help the Indian authorities to make informed choices in transitioning to cleaner transportation systems. Women's safety in public transport is a major challenge in India. What measures you would like to suggest policymakers to make Public Transport safe and comfortable for women? The foremost requirement is to have a gender sensitive planning, while planning for public transportation and infrastructure around it should have suggestions from women and have a gender expert in the policymakers group planning it. Better lighting from transit stops till to surrounding streets so that women feel safe walking back and going to, having transit personnel inside the public transport mode can enhance the safety. More frequent services to reduce overcrowding, information on arrival of public transport to allow reduced waiting time and increase certainty will increase safety. Help point kiosks, police presence, 24 hours hotline can also address the issue. Public Transit drivers should also be trained on how to address such issues WWW.URBANTRANSPORTNEWS.COM
