In 2021, CAG, as a part of a nationwide collective, renewed its focus on sustainable mobility in Chennai city to deep dive into the issues hampering integrated, sustainable, and equitable mobility for all citizens of the city and to work towards removing these roadblocks through research and collaboration.
Chennai, home to over 7 million, and capital of the most urbanised state in India, has in the past 4 decades struggled to meet the mobility needs of its residents. The city has seen a steady decline in patronage of public transport, walking and cycling while use of private vehicles has grown rapidly. For a city to be liveable, its transport network needs to be sustainable i.e low carbon, affordable, integrated (and seamless), accessible, and safe for all - be it children, women, or the elderly. Unfortunately, policies and city planning have given pride of place to the private vehicle, demoting and devaluing public transit, and non-motorised transit. In recent years there has been recognition that this needs to be inverted yet efforts to stem the tide have been in vain.