A STEP TOWARDS SHARING IDEAS, INNOVATION AND EXPERIENCE
The First Asia BRTS Conference was co-organized by Amdavad Municipal Corporation & Centre of Excellence in Urban Transport, CEPT University, and principally sponsored by Ministry of Urban development, Government of India and Department of Urban Development and Urban Housing Development, Government of Gujarat. The organizers with support from Gujarat Urban Development Corporation Ltd., Amdavad Urban Development Authority, Surat Municipal Corporation, Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan, Sitilink, EMBARQ Network, SIBRT Latin American Association, International Association of Public Transit (UITP) and ICLEI Asia brought together more than 200 participants across fifteen Indian cities and fourteen Asian, African and Latin American cities to exchange experiences and learning on BRTS n various stages like planning, implementation & operations. The participants also engaged in discussion of establishment of Asia BRTS Association (ABA) - an international forum of Asian BRTS cities for cooperation, collaboration, sharing of knowledge and business development. The conference was organized from September 6 to 8 in Amdavad, India.
Presentations were made on BRTS projects by participant cities (Amdavad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, New Delhi, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Hubli-Dharwad, Indore as well as cities of Cebu (Philippines), Jakarta (Indonesia), Lahore (Pakistan), Guayaquil (Ecuador), and Seoul (South Korea)). Various national and international experts on BRTS discussed important aspects through five themes, viz., Scaling up BRTS, BRTS Integration, Institutions and financing options for BRTS, Planning & Designing for BRTS and Urban Bus Specifications in India. The conference facilitated technical staff from city governments in learning of key issues related to financing, planning, designing, implementing and operating BRTS as well as integration of BRTS with other modes.
The closing session of Asia BRTS Conference accomplished another milestone by bringing about an understanding among the participants to form an Asia BRTS association including creation of a workgroup to look into the establishment of the Asia BRTS Association. Shri I. P. Guatam, Principal Secretary, Urban Development & Urban Housing Department, Gujarat highlighted the need to take BRTS in smaller cities which is responsive to their local needs. He also told the audience about Hon‘ble Chief Minister‘s announcement of formation of MATA (Multi modal Affordable Transportation Authority) in the state of Gujarat in line to Land Transit Authority in Singapore. Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, AJL and Municipal Commissioner of AMC announced that discussion is underway about formation of India BRTS Association along the lines of Asia BRTS association. He proposed hosting the conference every two years to keep the momentum going. Various representatives from international cities shared their experience at the conference complementing the organizers for their hospitality and forthcomingness and shared their eagerness in becoming a part of the Asia BRTS Association.
Prof. Shivanand Swamy, Executive Director, CoE-UT, CEPT University summarized the proceedings of the conference and highlighted next steps. Participants spoke about their experience during the three day conference and pledged their support for formation of ASIA BRTS Association.
Ms. Manjiri Akalkotkar, Associate Professor, CoE-UT, CEPT University joined to offer vote of thanks to all participants, partners and sponsors who helped make this conference a success. She added that the experience and information gathered at the conference will serve as a platform for the working group to move forward the efforts in setting up the Asia BRTS Association.
For further information, please contact:
Atul Malikram
9827092823