Lessons from pandemic, best practices to be shared during urban mobility conclave in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the best practices employed in the urban mobility sector will be discussed during a three-day conference starting in Delhi on October 27, a senior official said on Thursday.

The conference is being held so ''we are better prepared'' to deal with pandemics in the future, the official said.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is hosting the 16th Urban Mobility India Conference and Exhibition in the national capital.

Representatives from various metro systems in India, transport undertakings, professionals and other international experts will take part in the event, Officer On Special Duty (Urban Transport), MoHUA, Jaideep told reporters here.

There have been many lessons learned in the urban mobility sector as well during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

These will be discussed during this mega conference to be held from October 27-29, so that ''we are better prepared'' in dealing with pandemics in the future, the MoHUA official said.

Metros and other transport services were severely hit during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing them to a grinding halt for some duration during Covid-induced lockdowns.

''We have learnt many lessons from the pandemic. Our physical meetings have got converted into video conferences. And, there are many lessons for urban transport (sector) as well. If such a pandemic comes (in future), how we can run our systems and at the same time maintain social distance,'' Jaideep told PTI after the briefing when asked about the outcomes of the conference.

Another lesson of the pandemic is the use of digital payments he said. ''Many places where we have introduced the NCMC system, now people are preferring NCMC cards. This UPI, barcode-driven kind of system in mobile phones -- they want this type of system to work,'' he added.

The opening session of the conference will be attended by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, MoHUA Secretary Manoj Joshi, among other senior officials from the central government and other agencies on Friday.

''This Urban Mobility India Conference started in 2008 and is part of the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2006. Every year, we host this event. This ministry hosts it, and places and themes are different,'' Jaideep said. He said this year's theme is 'Integrated and Resilient Urban Transport'.

Jaideep said the conference will have speakers from international organisations like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank as well as from metro companies, transport corporations, he said. City administrators will also attend, he added.

There will be three days of deliberations, which will be followed by the valedictory session on October 29 in which awards for best transport systems and best transport practices will be given to cities, the official said.

''During the conference, SOPs from Indian metros will be shared. This is very essential. And, it will be a model SOP kind of a thing for all transport companies in future, in light of the learning from this pandemic,'' the ministry official said.