RMI, Micelio and Govt of Karnataka launch 'Urban Mobility Lab' in Bengaluru

Rocky Mountain Institute and Micelio in partnership with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Invest Karnataka Forum, and Department of Industries and Commerce (DIC), launched their ambitious Urban Mobility Lab in Bengaluru to identify, develop, and implement mobility solutions that transform how people and goods move.

Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South Lok Sabha Constituency was the chief guest for the occasion. Other dignitaries present included, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited Managing Director - Ajay Seth, Bengaluru City Police, Commissioner of Police - Bhaskar Rao, Government of Karnataka, Transport and Commerce and Industries Principal Secretary - Gaurav Gupta, Directorate of Urban Land Transport, Commissioner - V Ponnuraj, BMTC Managing Director - C Shikha, EkStep Foundation CTO - Pramod Varma, Infosys and Axilor Ventures Co-founder - SD Shibulal, RMI's Principal - Akshima Ghate, Micelio's Founder & Director - Shreyas Shibulal.

The two-day multi-stakeholder workshop held February 19-20, 2020 saw a culmination of over 150 participants from the mobility ecosystem in Bengaluru who worked together to address system-level barriers and develop implementation plans for the city.

The workshop was organized around six thematic areas - charging and battery swapping infrastructure, data-based solutions, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, first and last-mile connectivity, public transit, and urban final-mile delivery.

"All transport agencies that we have; including our private operators must work in a coordinated fashion towards a common objective. Revising transport laws is also important. The concern with a monopoly in public transport must be addressed with more private players coming in. We need to make our people use public transport and avoid private vehicles. We also need to look into increasing the size of the fleet in our city. What is lacking in the Indian context is the lack of specialists in managing urban mobility decisions which is a concern. Structural reforms should be undertaken imperatively and I am confident that the Urban Mobility Lab will go a long way in proposing concrete suggestions and solutions", said Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South.

"The collaborative effort of the last six months bringing together all key stakeholders - the government, private sector, and civil society under one roof has been fruitful to identify solutions that will eventually accelerate Bengaluru's transition towards shared, clean and citizen-centric mobility. This is just the beginning. At Micelio, we are committed to going the distance to make this happen", said Shreyas Shibulal, Founder & Director - Micelio.

"We're grateful to the Government of Karnataka for extending their full support for the launch of the Urban Mobility Lab in Bengaluru. Efficient and sustainable transportation is key to Bengaluru's mobility goals and to transform the lives of the citizens of this city and we're glad that we are making progress together", said Akshima Ghate, RMI's, Principal.

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