IISc, Urban Morph to set up first-of-its-kind CoE for Active Mobility in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: In what is likely the first such initiative in the country, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Sustainable Transportation Lab (IST Lab) and sustainability focused organisation Urban Morph Bengaluru, will jointly set up a Centre of Excellence for Active Mobility in Bengaluru to boost non-motorised transport systems such as cycling and walking in cities.

They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to agree to collaborate on research, planning, monitoring and evaluation of transportation modes like walking and cycling towards solving first and last-mile transportation challenges and improving citizens' overall quality of life by making cities liveable.

The CoE will enable an ecosystem for various stakeholders, think tanks, neighbourhood initiatives, citizen groups and the government to brainstorm and initiate projects to make public spaces accessible for all ages and economic groups, being both safe and disability-friendly.

The centre will also serve as a "one stop shop" for stakeholders in cities across the country to access high quality research, plans and activities to enable the nation to achieve health, transportation and climate goals via Active Mobility, noted a statement issued by the centre.

Prof Ashish Verma, the principal investigator of the CoE, said that the centre will be using a living lab approach to pilot solutions on-ground and onboard a few cities across the country including Pune, Guwahati, Indore and Pimpri-Chinchwad to take up some active mobility projects.

"We have a three year road map; we will have our first consultation in the next couple of months. We are also speaking to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to support this centre of excellence," he said.

Highlighting the positive effect of pedestrianisation on improved social wellbeing and quality of life, he also noted that the centre would take up projects inside large campuses and tech parks.

"Unless we work closely with communities and neighbourhood groups, we cannot devise any translatable solutions. We also want to re-initiate the focus and conversation on the active mobility bill," he said.