A two-day capacity building program and workshop was conducted in Pune city on 'Shaping Mobility for Young Children and Caregivers' on 23rd and 24th November for all Municipal Corporations and Smart City SPV’s of Maharashtra state by the State Urban Development Department in collaboration with WRI India and Parisar supported by Van Leer Foundation.

The capacity building workshop was planned with an objective of “A city that works for children, works for all!” aiming to enhance the capacity of city officials who are engaged in the development of streets and public transport to improve the mobility experience for young children and their caregivers, and achieve the vision of ‘Inclusive Mobility’ for Maharashtra.

The workshop was attended by the officials from around 22 Municipal Corporations and Smart City SPV’s of Maharashtra state.

Impact of Road Widening

As traffic levels soar in the city, roads get congested, leading to demands from various quarters - the traffic police, elected representatives, PMC planners and engineers and even the public - for road widening. Road widening is routinely marked in the Development Plan, in anticipation of growth in traffic. Eventually budgets are allocated and once land acquisition procedures (both time-consuming and very expensive) are completed, the widening of the road commences. There are two fundamental issues with this approach though - without any restraint on vehicle growth, soon the widened road also gets congested. And in the process of road widening, trees - often old and big trees along the roadside - get cut in the hundreds. In fact the road department is responsible for most tree cutting in the city. More traffic and less trees is a double recipe for increasing pollution, GHG emissions and heat island effects.

Transport experts have long dismissed road widening as a way to solve congestion. Instead they recommend promoting walking, cycling and public transport and vehicle restraint measures.

To help create a safer environment for children during their daily commute to and from school, The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken a significant step in ensuring safe commute to school. These carefully designed School Priority Zones Guidelines are a crucial component of the comprehensive School Travel Improvement Plan and Mobility Plan for Infant, Toddler and their Caregiver, and have been developed through extensive cooperation among schools, educational establishments, technical experts, and civil society groups. Parisar along with WRI India and technical experts of Urban Design teams had supported PMC in formulating these guidelines.

In an effort to make urban mobility in the city, young children and caregiver friendly, Pune Municipal Corporation has approved the Infant Toddler and Care-Giver Friendly Policy and Mobility Plan for Pune under the Urban95 program supported by Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) on 14th June. PMC had collaborated with Parisar with WRI India supported by BvLF in preparing this Policy and Mobility Plan for Pune city. The plan for Pune will further also provide inputs on the state level policy brief focused on the mobility of young children and caregivers.