Urban Transport Infrastructure November 2018 Urban Transport Infra November 2018 | Page 45

Interview
We should not focus on personal or
individual mobility in the EV space, but
more on public transport
– Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog
Rajiv Kumar is Vice-Charmain of
NITI Aayog. During interaction
with him at MOVE: Global
Mobility Summit 2018 in Vigyan
Bhawan, New Delhi, he shared his
clear views on electric Mobility
revolution in India. Here are
excerpts of his interview:-
Do you think electric vehicles are the
future?
Mr. Rajiv Kumar: Absolutely. But it
is not just electric vehicles that one
should be talking about. One should
be talking about a new model of
mobility, which is shared mobility,
connected mobility and mobility
which is driven by intermodal
mobility which makes maximum use
of digital communications, GSP and
so on and so forth. There are basically
three objectives i.e. to minimise
carbon footprint, to maximise public
welfare and ease of living, and to
generate maximum jobs and growth.
Mobility is the new disruptor. It will
change everything that we have
known so far. Just like the internet
was and before that the chip was, I
think mobility is in that genre of
disruption. We should not focus on
personal or individual mobility in the
EV space, but more on public
transport.
You have already suggested that 40%
of personal vehicles and public
transport should be ZERO EMISSION
by 2030? Do you think that it is
possible?
WWW.URBANTRANSPORTNEWS.COM
Mr. Rajiv Kumar, VC, NITI Aayog at MOVE: Global Mobility Summit
Mr. Rajiv: Yes, but not on its own.
We have to make maximum efforts
for it. The government and industry
must work closely together to make
this happen. But there is a role
always for the government to make
the market. This is achieved by
having a very light touch of a
regulatory framework which gives a
level of certainty for the future of the
entrepreneurs. The rest entrepreneurs
can take care of. The other one, which
is also the govt's job is to promote
R&D and technology. These are
always underfunded by the market.
This is where the govt has to take the
leading role in terms of setting up
SOPs, new benchmarks, and some
needed infrastructure.
Do you think we should give first
priority to Pubic transport while going
for electric mobility?
Mr. Rajiv: Yes, absolutely. What we
mean by Public Transport is not just
buses but three-wheelers and later
smaller vans. It also includes railways
and waterways. What we are saying
is that we have this great opportunity
to try and move away from the US
model of mobility, which is the
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personal transport model i.e. 786 cars
per 1,000 families. While we are at 18
or 20 ( per 1,000 cars). We are not yet
logged into the US path. Here is a
chance to move away so that we can
propagate not to own a vehicle but
own a ride. We have to make that
public ride as comfortable and even
more comfortable than the personal
ride. Public mobility should offer the
same flexibility that personal ride
offers. But when one chooses personal
mobility as a status symbol, it is a
different matter. Can we change the
mindset of our middle class that it is a
status symbol to ride a bicycle to
work than a huge car belching carbon
etc?
The second thing is we can make
public transport accessible and
flexible only if we use the best digital
technologies that we have. We should
have all mobility forms and all the
inter-connections wherever possible
and each system should be talking to
one another. There are now transport
systems in cities where you don't have
to wait even for a minute. In such
cities, nobody wants to own a car. So
that is the objective.
Urban Transport Infrastructure | November 2018