Dhawal Ashar is a Manager in the Urban Transport and Road Safety team at the World Resources Institute India. His work integrates transport engineering and urban design to improve safety and sustainability in cities. Dhawal manages road safety projects in Mumbai, Bandung, Bangkok, to name a few. We are here to discuss design of last 2 decades of transport in Mumbai and some brilliant insights from Dhawal

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Topics discussed

A brief history of transportation in Mumbai, how are the departments within the transport ecosystem categorized, and how does a local commuter perceive it compared to how it is categorized from a government standpoint?

Geographical boundaries we are referring to when we talk about Mumbai’s transport, and how does MMR differ from the BMC limits?

Streets are public spaces for people to live, celebrate, do business, and rejuvenate specific to Mumbai, or is this an accepted principle in transport planning globally?

Specific challenges unique to Mumbai from a bird’s eye view, and how have we handled them compared to other cities like Bangkok where you have worked?

How are transport planning decisions made, what studies back them, and why is widening often chosen as the primary solution when traffic increases?

What are the key parameters and the four step process involved in transport planning, and how do planners use surveys, projections, and capacity calculations to define future projects?

Examples of big infrastructure projects in Mumbai, and what would have been different had we invested in Metro on Western Express Highway instead of flyovers back then?

Demand management tools like congestion tax and parking regulations, and how do cities like Singapore and London use them to disincentivize car travel?

Progression from two way streets to one ways to flyovers represent a “loosening the belt” approach rather than solving the fundamental problem of moving people?

Mumbai’s future, and how have European cities transformed from automobile peaks to becoming people friendly destinations?

Reference links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhawal-ashar

https://wri-india.org/profile/dhawal-ashar

https://citizenmatters.in/author/dhawalashar/

https://www.hindustantimes.com/author/dhawal-ashar-101715864035351

https://x.com/ashardhawal?lang=en

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