Study tour on electric mobility in Europe for Indian representatives

Within the framework of the LUTP program funded by the World Bank, the Global Environnement Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), CODATU accompanied with the Institute of Urban Transport (IUT) a delegation of 40 Indian senior government officials for a study tour in Paris (France) and in Amsterdam (Netherlands), from 12 to 16 August.

India has set itself a target of a 100% electric fleet of vehicles (cars, buses, buses, etc.) by 2030 to fight air pollution. Achieving an electric mobility requires not only an effort by car manufacturers but also the development of reliable infrastructures in terms of access to electricity (number, location, efficiency of charging stations for example), recycling (battery change and recycling …), and the reinforcement of public transport networks by rail (metro, trains, trams…) by municipalities. The objective of the study tour was to share good practices in urban mobility and “low carbon” public policies through technical and site visits.

Meetings and visits in Paris:

• visit of the Montmartre funicular, put into service in 1900 and later become an automatic “inclined lift” with two cabins that allow up to 35 people to cover the 36 meters height difference between Saint-Pierre square and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in 1min30s. The funicular carries more than two million passengers a year
• iintermodal visit from the Saint-Lazare station, departure station for Western France to the Gare de Lyon, departure station for Southern France, through the metropolitan and RER network of the French capital, in order to experiment intermodality and to practice user paths and access control systems
• meeting with Egis Rail, for a presentation of the company and of the Great Paris Express as part of the Grand Paris project, express metro that will connect the suburbs surrounding the capital and avoid users to go through the city center to reach their destination (as required by the current scheme)
• meeting with the French Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition and the French company Blue Solutions, specialized in the manufacture of Lithium Metal Polymer batteries

Meetings and visits in Amsterdam:

• presentation of Amsterdam municipality policies in terms of sustainable and liveable city
• meeting with representatives of Bicycle Mayor & Leaders Program, with a presentation of BYCS missions and cycling solutions and innovations
• meeting with EV Box, developer of charging solutions for electric cars and visit of a charging station
• travel to Utrecht for a presentation by the City of Utrecht and by Shyam Khandekar (urban planner-designer in Netherlands and founder of MyLiveableCity) on the rise of the private automobile and now the “roll-back” of the car, including a visit to the largest cycle garage in the world and the Utrecht station
• meeting with representatives of ARS Traffic and Transport Technology, technology provider in traffic and transport, and Egis Parking Services, developer of parking control solutions. And visit of the Parking Management Centre, managed by Egis