Infrastructure key to push people to make sustainable mobility choices

Bengaluru: Panelists at the Sustainable Mobility summit organised by Bangalore International Centre on Wednesday, stressed on the need to develop infrastructure that can push people to make sustainable mobility choices like walking, cycling or using an electric vehicle. “Infrastructure has a large role to play in encouraging people to adopt sustainable means of transport. Scaling up electric charging stations in public places is one such way of achieving the goal,” said Chetan Maini, co-founder of SUN-Mobility.

Satya Sankaran, Bicycle Mayor of Bengaluru, said the debate on infrastructure v/s people using a particular mode of transport is a chicken and egg situation. “It should be a parallel effort. If people choose a sustainable mode of transport for certain trips, it will also push the government to set up required infrastructure,” he said. BIC organised a livecast on “Sustainable Mobility - Getting Bengaluru moving in cleaner and greener ways,” as a part of the Bengaluru Mobility Summit series.

The summit is a policy-focused panel discussion around the themes of urban mobility in post-Covid Bengaluru, in the backdrop of increased traffic congestion in the city. Responding to how the political class perceives the sustainable approach, ex-member of Parliament M V Rajeev Gowda said elected representatives will be open to ideas that are clear and concrete. “Political class will embrace tangible ideation. There should be clear cut vision, the money required and its impact,” Gowda said.