India

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.