By 2030, an additional 250 million people will be living in
India’s urban areas. The immense scale of this demographic shift
also signifies that 200 to 400 percent more urban land will be
needed to accommodate this growth. Already, this massive growth and
expansion is straining overcrowded urban transport systems. The
FedEx-EMBARQ MAP Center in India works to combat this by building
local capacity to deliver sustainable transport solutions. Initiated
in 2011, the Bus Karo Plus program builds capacity amongst city
officials and transport planners by spreading best practices and
facilitating peer-to-peer learning in India. The aim of Bus Karo Plus
is for at least 20 Indian cities to have more than 40 percent of
motorized trips take place in public transport by 2016, which it will
achieve through three focus areas: Talking Transit: Since 2012, the
Talking Transit workshop series has engaged more than 23 cities.
Workshops have focused on topics like branding and marketing public
transport, strategies for integrated transport operation, safety and
accessibility, and more. Mentoring Transit: Through the Mentoring
Transit program, EMBARQ India has worked with seven cities on a safe
and eco-driving training program. On average, these cities have
achieved a 70 percent increase in fuel efficiency. The team has also
helped transport planners in Bangalore develop and implement a route
rationalization plan for three major arterial road corridors in the
BIG Bus system. Learning Transit: The Learning Transit initiative
shares lessons learned from EMBARQ India's experiences helping Indian
cities make sustainable transport a reality. These lessons are
compiled in the Bus Karo 2.0 - Case Studies from India guidebook,
published in December 2014.