23 to 24 November 2009, Delhi, India

Chief Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Rs 600-crore Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project here on Friday.

Evincing interest to participate in India’s urban development process, multilateral lending agency World Bank has initiated a dialogue with the urban development ministry to provide a loan assistance of $5 billion to develop Indian cities, a top official said.

16-17 June 2009, Hyderabad, India

While the urban development ministry laid down several specific conditions and technical criteria for the type of buses that cities would be allowed to buy under the scheme, it didn’t require the buses to be powered by CNG. By Rahul Chandran and Samar Srivastava

The law ministry had been given the task of deciding whether the transport ministry or BEE would notify such standards for the automobile industry. By Padmaparna Ghosh

27 May 2009, Manila, Philippines

With a number of projects in the pipeline that will upgrade the city’s transport services , the Delhi government plans to create a special fund to appropriately finance such schemes. By Aanchal Bansal

Whatever be the future one sees for the auto industry in India, auto analysts, urban planners, history - all seem to indicate one thing - the Tato Nano small car is likely to take congestion to tier II and III towns. By Niranjana Ramesh, ET Bureau

The largesse from the JNNURM is in good flow. Since January this year, the ministry of urban development has sanctioned Rs 4,726 crore for procurement of 14,240 buses in 59 cities. By K C Sivaramakrishnan

The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) being prepared by RITES could recommend imposition of additional taxes on private vehicles in the city, besides enhancing parking charges, to promote public transport system in the city.

In the past two budgets, state finance minister Asim Dasgupta stepped on the gas to mop up revenue from owners of private cars and two-wheeler. By Subhro Niyogi, TNN

BL reported that work on the bus rapid transport system, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission at a cost of INR 426. 35 crore, has begun in some stretches and the Chief Minister recently laid the foundation stone for the project.

You may think twice before owning a car in coming years.

The monitoring of the quality of air and noise levels that Mumbaikars live with is set to become more stringent.

Any guess as to how can a power failure contribute to the atmospheric pollution?

The state government’s ambitious Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) plan is now ready in a new avatar.

The Rs.36.3-crore sustainable urban transport project approved by the City Corporation Council on Friday seeks to modernise the Chala commercial area and relieve traffic congestion in the downtown areas of the city. By T. Nandakumar

With Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) all set to roll in May, Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) budget for the year 2009-10 proposes to have 100 buses to feed this service.

Driving a private car is going to be more expensive with the urban development ministry making it mandatory for states to set up dedicated transport fund by imposing additional sales tax on petrol, increasing registration fee on four-wheelers and imposing congestion tax and green tax.

With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) starting work on its project on Non-motorised transport feeder services to pilot bus rapid transit (BRT) routes,' the civic body is all set to take this opportunity to renew the city's image as cycling city,' by planning a series of projects promoting non-motorised transport (NMT). By Snehal Sonawane Sawant

Calcutta is ready to give up the rogue auto for the chance to breathe cleaner air, according to a poll commissioned by Metro.

On Friday afternoon, a prototype of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) glided noiselessly into the swanky GMDC bus stop on a trial run.

Political parties threw their weight behind the auto brigade on the first day of the high court’s ban on two-stroke engines, robbing Calcutta of the chance to ring in 2009 with “Happy New Air”.

Six two-stroke autorickshaws were seized in Calcutta on the first day of the ban imposed by Calcutta High Court. By Devadeep Purohit, The Telegraph

Calcutta is the country’s lung cancer capital, according to the National Cancer Registry. Calcutta is the country’s wheeze and cough capital, say leading pulmonary specialists.

The weather is playing tricks on Kolkata.

The first time – as an undergraduate student in 2002 – when I heard the epithet "city of flyovers" being used by government officials to describe Delhi’s growth aspirations, I laughed it off. By Debarshi Dasgupta

The need for a bicycle track is vital as a study conducted by the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) on the travel patterns of almost eight lakh cyclists indicates that even the best of newly-designed roads in our city is only 57 per cent safe for them during peak traffic hours.

School children precariously hanging on to auto-rickshaws while going to school or returning home may soon be a thing of the past.

With the urban population set to double in the next 25 years, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken said on Friday that the much talked about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is a must for all cities as it is their future.

3-5 December 2008, New Delhi, India

Calling for strengthening of the bus network system in the country, Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy today batted for total exemption of excise duty on buses to improve their quality and promote their use among commuters.

The environment department now seeks to ban three-wheeler goods carriers that run on diesel.

Expounding a 'carrot and stick' solution to the traffic problem, former Mayor of Bogota in Germany Enrique Penolosa today said the public transport system should be improved and car use restricted to ease traffic congestions in cities.

Nearly every major transport project of the Delhi government finds a mention in the Congress's list of achievements or figure in its future plans. By Ambika Pandit

Chandigarh, This time if you plan to buy a new vehicle, do it gleefully and do not bother about the formalities.

Delhi has figured in a list of 13 most polluted cities in Asia, along with Beijing, Lagos, Seoul and others, according to a latest analysis by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Cheaper than four wheels, better than two feet

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will take a loan of around Rs 350 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to start a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) service on six routes within its municipal limits. The loan will help meet 25 per cent of the project cost, the civic body said.

In a major development that will give great boost to the Indian electric vehicle industry, the Society of Indian Electric Vehicle Manufacturers (SIEVM) has been formed, and registered in Delhi.

Never mind Delhi's harrowing experience. India is pressing ahead with the bus rapid transport system (BRTS) - which entails dedicated lanes for high capacity, low floor buses - in at least nine other cities.

24 to 26 September 2008, Visakhapatnam, India

For the first time in the country, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will be in a new avatar in Ahmedabad, an elevated BRTS corridor will be coming up in the second phase of BRTS in the walled city.

The unified Pune Metropolitan Transport Authority (PMTA) is in the final stages of getting approved and will be headed by the Principal Secretary of Urban Development, said Principal Secretary of Transport Ramnath Jha.

The central government has sanctioned the 30.5 km long second phase of the city’s ambitious Bus Rapid Transport System.

The authorities implementing the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the city have decided to raise the floor height of the special buses that will run on the dedicated corridor. By Tanvir A Siddiqui

D Thara, Director of the Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL), has been associated with the Ahmedabad BRT project ever since its inception. The authorities have maintained that the project is inspired by a similar system in Bogota, Colombia.

Those who regularly use the Delhi Metro service swear by it.

Delhi’s 65-km metro cost the state and central governments Rs 10,500 crore. In comparison, Hyderabad is about to get a 71-km metro without the central or state government paying a rupee.

Despite the buzz over the bus rapid transport system (BRTS) for the city, Jaipurites may have to wait for some time before the first phase (Package-1B) that runs from C-zone Bypass to Panipech is opened to the public. By Akhilesh Sourav Jha,TNN

An Indian doctor in Beijing, the booming capital of the world’s second-largest car market after the US, made two priority purchases when he moved here after four years in New Delhi: toothpaste and a bicycle.

You could soon use a bicycle more often in your neighbourhood, staying fit and conserving fossil fuels in the bargain, if the latest project of the directorate of urban land transport (DULT) takes off. It aims at providing separate bicycle tracks and parking and giving a boost to non-motorized transport.

It's the survival of the strongest. By Megha Suri,TNN

Even as Tata Motors is gearing up for the much-awaited Nano launch, India’s top vehicle maker is working with a Norway-based company to produce an electric car.

Most autorickshaws in Calcutta are running on a fuel that contains at least 50 per cent kerosene or kerosene and naphtha, and causes three times more pollution than petrol, the first known tests of the adulterated oil done on behalf of The Telegraph show.

Carmakers are cutting production to check the huge build-up of inventories and slowing demand in Motown. By Chanchal Pal Chauhan, ET Bureau

With the pollution level in our cities rising at an alarming rate, its about time we emulated the Parisian model for a greener public transport, writes Arun Kumar Nambiar.

Greenpeace today launched a nationwide "Let's Drive Change" consumer campaign to support the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in creating strong mandatory fuel efficiency norms for the car industry in India.

With the pollution level in our cities rising at an alarming rate, its about time we emulated the Parisian model for a greener public transport, writes Arun Kumar Nambiar.

In underlining the concerns of the developing countries over high oil prices and roundly berating speculators for pushing them up, India's Finance Minister P Chidambaram made right noises at the Global Energy Dialogue in Jeddah on June 22. By Virendra Parekh, India Monitor

Volvo has orders for 310 buses this year and most of them are from public transport companies. It expects its turnover to touch Rs 300 crore by December

Besides poverty and squalor, what all South Asian cities have in common is a highly congested, heavily polluted, totally chaotic and nightmarishly unsafe transportation system. By Praful Bidwai

Besides poverty and squalor, what all South Asian cities have in common is a highly congested, heavily polluted, totally chaotic and nightmarishly unsafe transportation system. By Praful Bidwai

A new ES&T study shows that one city’s efforts to improve its air quality also reduced the global warming associated with the pollutants. By Rhitu Chatterjee

Compared to other bus corridors world-wide, the Delhi effort is a very limited one. The current design is only a busway, and the government must push forward to build a full-fledged Bus Rapid Transit system, say Dario Hidalgo and Madhav Pai.

The National Action Plan on Climate Change has been finalised and would in all probability released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.

Shweta Kumari is waiting impatiently for Tata Motors' new Nano to hit Mumbai's car showrooms later this year.

Shweta Kumari is waiting impatiently for Tata Motors' new Nano to hit Mumbai's car showrooms later this year.

First batch to come out in 40 days. Most of them will serve city, suburban areas. By R.K. Radhakrishnan

The primary focus is on the bus rapid transport system, GIDB says in a reply to an RTI query. By Bashir Pathan

Swedish transport solutions major AB Volvo is gearing up to emerge as the preferred choice of public transport in Indian cities.

The Delhi Metro offers comfort level of international standards to its commuters, according to a study by the IIT-Delhi that used vibration levels inside the trains as a yardstick.

On World Environment Day, this is notso-good news for Bangaloreans. By S Kushala

Undoubtedly, it's economy, convenience and zero emission that are the prime drivers for the electric two-wheeler category in major parts of the world. By Gajanan Khergamker

Even though a National Urban Transport Policy was introduced two years ago to crack the stifling urban transport problems, just three out of 35 Indian cities have a transport regulator. By Bipin Chandran

Kolkata has upstaged Delhi as the air pollution capital of India, accounting for more deaths due to lung cancer and heart attack than the capital city.

Step out on to the road and the first thing you are greeted with is the traffic snarls. By Dr. Uma Rajarathnam

In these days of soaring food prices worldwide , imagine a crop that provides food, livestock feed and biofuel. It grows in dry conditions, tolerates heat, salt and waterlogging, and provides steady income for poor farmers.

Never has food moved around the world at the speed or in the amounts it has over the past few years. Now, many say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the resulting pollution. By Elisabeth Rosenthal

A new global survey reveals which country's citizens have the most environmentally friendly lifestyles by examining the impact of individual consumer behavior. By Brian Handwerk, National Geographic News

To become successful, the BRT or any other transit system needs to grow beyond mere traffic engineering. Socio-cultural parameters need to be built in, right from the conceptualisation stage. By Tathagata Chatterji

Chennai: Countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Finland have brought in differentiations into their car registration taxes so as to encourage buyers to opt for the ‘cleanest’ car models. By D. Murali and Kumar Shankar Roy

An official spokesman revealed that The Shimla Road Users and Pedestrians (Public Safety and Convenience) Act, 2007 had come into force on 26-02-2008 and the Home Department of Himachal Pradesh seeks cooperation from all the residents of Shimla Town to implement this Act in letter and sprit.

Getting from one point to another on Indian roads is a daunting task for even the most gritty among us.

Metro projects in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi will begin in two years, Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy Rajya Sabha said on Thursday. By Satyen Mohapatra, Hindustan Times

Disregarding the consequences of the use of scarce land to grow biofuels on environment and food security, India is readying a national biofuel policy, which aims to set a target of meeting about 10% of total transport fuel with bio-fuels by 2017. By Nitin Sethi

An item in The Times of India (March 19) reported on the results of a survey which showed that the public believe that the poor quality of our roads is the No. 1 reason, followed closely by poor traffic management and lack of proper (sic) infrastructure like flyovers for traffic congestion, which itself appears, according to the item, to be the primary public concern. By Madhav G Badami

The chaos on the roads points to the alarming fallout of the huge rise in vehicle population. Pedestrians, the bulk of the urban poor, are affected most of all. By Sarjit Ramesh

In a bid to keep pace with the rapid growth of Bangalore, the Karnataka Government has decided to invest Rs 46,994 crore on urban transport over the next 18 years.

Urban Planning and Urban Transport Planning expert Prof Madhav Badami said that in a country of pedestrians like India, the urban transport planning focused exclusively on motor vehicles.

The capital's traffic system is in for a major overhaul before the Commonwealth Games in 2010, with Delhi Police planning to put in place an IT-driven Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) which will monitor and streamline vehicular movement.

Janwani and Parisar Urban Transport Group host a talk by Dario Hidalgo and O.P Agarwal.

With the Olympic Games breathing down Beijing’s neck, the city is racing against the clock to ensure it meets one of the commitments it made when it won the bid for the games in 2001: blue skies. By Anumita Roychowdhury

With cheaper car variants set to swamp the automobile market, the government is bracing to contain the spin-off, congestion of roads, with a steep hike in parking fees in cities like Mumbai. By Dhaval Kulkarni

India is working on a policy that will encourage the biggest cities and towns to build up their public transport systems as an alternative to cars to curb emissions in the nation's polluted urban areas. By Subramaniam Sharma

Air pollution levels monitored by southern Karnataka state’s pollution control board (KSPCB) in this imploding southern Indian city -- among Asia’s fastest-growing with an official population of 6.8 million people -- have risen alarmingly over the last five years. By Keya Acharya

On the outskirts of Beijing, a private initiative — a group of 11 eco-friendly residences built by 11 different architects — called the Commune by the Great Wall at Badaling, blends the natural with the man-made. One of the buildings even has a brook running through it. By Narayani Ganesh

By Praful Bidwai

It is indeed the "People's Car" that people can't wait to take home. Booking requests are pouring in at car dealers, reports Karan Choudhury. By Chetan Chauhan

A few weeks ago, the traditional Indian joint family household of Vineet Sharma, a fertilizer industry consultant, achieved a long deferred dream. Having ferried themselves on scooters all these years, the Sharmas bought a brand-new silver-gray Tata Indica hatchback. By Somini Sengupta

A car that runs on air? What seemed like a pipe dream may soon become reality as Frenchman Guy Negre hopes versions of his compressed air car will be produced in India this year by Tata Motors Ltd after a 15 year quest for backers for his invention. Tata group to launch world’s cheapest car.

When GV Dasarathi pulls up his bicycle at a traffic intersection on his way to work in India's InfoTech city, Bangalore, heads turn. By Sumana Mukherjee

In India, China and elsewhere around the world, rapid economic growth has been a powerful means for social progress.

Another reason to celebrate for this India's smallest big town Fazilka in Punjab. Fazilka has been selected first amongst all Asian cities for adopting best energy saving practices to fight against global warming in transportation.

Tata Motors is gearing up to roll out India’s first hydrogen-fuelled vehicle in a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). By Arun Ram

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, London Mayor Ken Livingstone and TERI (The Energy Research Institute) Director R. K. Pachauri on Tuesday emphasised the need for active cooperation among cities to tackle the problem of climate change.

India is in serious danger - no, not from Pakistan or internal strife. India is in danger from an Indian-made vehicle: a $2,500 passenger car, the world's cheapest. By Thomas L. Friedman

Around 35 participants rode through Lutyens’ Delhi to promote the bicycle as an alternate zero-pollution, healthy, low-cost and sustainable mode of transportation.

By Aurora Fe Ables, Transport Specialist, CAI-Asia Center

By Aurora Fe Ables, Transport Specialist, CAI-Asia Center

A revolution is taking place in India that could change what most of the world drives. Next fall, the Indian automaker Tata Motors is scheduled to introduce its long-awaited People's Car, with a sticker price of about $2,500. Hot on its tail may be as many as half a dozen new ultra-affordable vehicles — some from the world's leading carmakers, including Toyota and Renault-Nissan. By Heather Timmons

If you thought that Pune’s transport planners have made a blunder by simultaneously exploring various modes of public transport including the bus rapid transit (BRT) system, sky bus, metro rail, mono-rail and trams, think again.

By Aurora Fe Ables, Transport Specialist, CAI-Asia Center

By Aurora Fe Ables and Bert Fabian, Transport Unit, CAI-Asia Center

By Aurora Fe Ables, Transport Specialist, CAI-Asia Center

23 September 2007, New Delhi, India

The daily chaos on Bangalore roads and the resultant loss of precious man-hours and fuel, besides increase in the number of road accidents and air pollution could be mitigated to an extent if the directions of a high-powered committee constituted by the Supreme Court are enforced in their true spirit. By Anil Kumar Sastry, The Hindu (Front Page)

Come Aug ’08, Amdavadis can enjoy BRTS ride

The city of Pune in India’s state of Maharashtra look set to have compressed natural gas (CNG) available for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) by November this year, with as many as 29 stations expected to be operational by the end of 2008.

With over 4,500 buses doing close to 9.5 lakh kilometres every day, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is one the most profitable government departments in Karnataka. By Shweta Ganesh Kumar

In yet another twist to the debate over an elevated vs underground Metro corridor for new line from Jangpura to Badarpur, a Delhi Metro survey has revealed that over 80% south Delhiites are eagerly awaiting elevated Central Secretariat-Badarpur line. By Megha Suri, Times News Network

India is expected this week to stall developed countries’ attempts to include it in a commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions, citing its low per-capita emissions and need for near double-digit growth to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty. By Jo Johnson

Terms of reference and call for comments

Publication of IndiaCore.com and IPIS

World Bank, Environment and Social Development Unit, South Asia Region (Published in June 2005)

Prof. John Pucher, Ph.D., Nisha Korattyswaroopam, M.C.P., and Neha Mittal, M.S., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey USA; Neenu Ittyerah, M.S., Indian Railways, Chennai, India (Transport Policy, Vol. 12, Issue 3, June 2005)

A paper by Madhav Badami of the School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment McGill University, Canada and Murtaza Haider of Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canaba

CDM Country Guides is a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand developed by IGES. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors.

This handbook is based on the PhD dissertation work of Anvita Arora, titled "Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) Methodology for Urban Transport Projects: Case Study Delhi Metro", carried out under the supervision of Dr. Geetam Tiwari, both being the co-authors of this handbook.

Special BRT Supplement December 2008, Indian Institute of Technology -Delhi- India

Denial of pedestrian walkways is a serious violation of human rights and the road space needs to be distributed equitably, says Enrique Penolosa, former Mayor of Bogota.

Asian Development Bank, December 2005

Delhi might soon lose its war against growing traffic and increasing pollution, without an effective and massive public transport system. Delhi needs big answers for its big problem and tough measures like the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is one such solution in the future roadmap.

When Mumbai (Bombay) Municipal Corporation evicted pavement dwellers in 1981, a journalist came forward to file a public interest petition to protect the rights of the pavement dwellers. By Dunu Roy, Combat Law

The report was prepared by Madhav Badami of the School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment, McGill University in Canada and Narayan Iyer of Bajaj Auto Ltd in India. The paper is made available online with the authors' consent.

By Sudhir & Sameera Kumar, Secon Pvt. Ltd.

There was a Talk on “Urban Transport in India: Beyond the Nano and Metro… and back to the Basics”, delivered by Prof. Madhav Badami, Professor, School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, Canada on 14th March, 2008 at 6.30 PM.

In this draft version released by CSE, the Fuel economy issue is highlighted and its politics is exposed.

Dr. R. Narasimhan, a senior respiratory physician based in Chennai, writes about the various sources of air pollution inside the home.

This study compares basic transport and air quality indicators for 12 Indian cities.

S. Mukherjee, D. Mohan, T. R. Gawade

Conor C. O. Reynolds and Milind Kandlikar

Bus Rapid Transit systems, like those being implemented in Delhi and other cities, can carry significantly far more people than conventional bus systems, and indeed, as many as some rail systems. By using road space efficiently and with minimal conflicts between modes, these systems can help meet mass mobility needs cost-effectively, safely, and equitably. By Madhav G. Badami

By Sudhir Gota and Prashant Mutalik

This paper provides an objective analysis of the present day trends in renewable energy in India.

On 3rd July, the Climate Challenge India coalition issued an independent Interim Assessment of the Government of India's 'National Action Plan on Climate Change'.

By Bert Fabian and Sudhir Gota, CAI-Asia Center