KOCHI, Kerala: The 15th edition of the Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo 2022 concluded in Kochi on Sunday, November 6. In tandem with the theme of day three, which is ‘Future mobility- Safe, Affordable, Accessible, and Efficient’, various symposiums and sessions extensively discussed the nuances of future mobility.
A total of eight sessions took place on day three, including four research symposiums on topics like, ‘Smart City, Smart Mobility and Sustainable Urban Freight’, ‘Public Transport and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)’, ‘Traffic Engineering’, and ‘Safety and Emissions’.
In the first session of the concluding day, the topic of discussion was ‘Future Fuels’ which focused on alternative ways to reduce overdependence on fossil fuels for transport in the urban context with technology and policy adaptation. The session was chaired by Ravi Prakash, Director of Urban Transport, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, and moderated by Abhijit Sarkar, Ex-Secretary (State Transport Authority), Delhi.
The second session centered around the topic of ‘Multimodal Integration’. The session had an extensive discussion on integrated multimodal mobility in cities and the ways to promote people-oriented sustainable transport systems in urban areas. This session was chaired by Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, Senior Advisor (Rail and Urban Mobility), World Bank.
Round table sessions were also held on subjects including ‘street for all’ and ‘sustainable transport development- focus on E-Mobility’. The day also witnessed a plenary session on ‘Urban Mobility- Vision 2047’.
An award ceremony also took place where the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) won the ‘Commendation Award’ in the ‘Metro Rail with the Best Multimodal Integration’ category.
In the valedictory session, the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan, expressed his satisfaction with the conduct of the conference and stated, “I hope it led to the sharing of experiences and generation of new ideas that would help create sustainable Aatma Nirbhar Urban Mobility.”