Sustainable Transport

Steps to Sustainability: The Impacts of New Footpaths in Chennai

This study presents evidence that improved footpaths are a highly cost-effective means to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health, save money for residents, and improve public safety in cities in lower- and middle-income countries. The report also presents an impact evaluation methodology that could be replicated by transport planners in other cities. Finally, planners and engineers can also find inspiration and examples around equitable street space design that provides safety for all road users.

Deep Dive on Local Mobility

This video highlights the importance of good walking and cycling infrastructure for caregivers and the children, as well as specific considerations that city planners must take when designing for these groups. The video explains different travel patterns of caregivers and children, and the necessity of proximity to local mobility options. With it, transit planners can gain a better sense of how to meet the needs of caregivers and children as users of active mobility systems.

See full series on mobility for babies, toddlers, and caregivers here.

Building Great Transportation Infrastructure

This guide is designed for anyone looking to develop a framework for planning and funding a transportation system. It includes a host of funding pathways, best practices, steps, and other guidance for designing an effective transportation system. The guide also outlines frameworks to analyze transportation projects’ safety, equity, and climate impacts. With this, planners have the resources, guidance, and design more effective and resilient transportation systems.

Anchoring Road Safety Around Schools

This webinar shows how programs like safe school zones and safe routes to schools can address the mobility concerns of the most vulnerable people in the city. These interventions can also catalize a greater aproach to urban mobility in cities. Presenters shared experiences and best practices from Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Addis Ababa in implementing the programs and targeted interventions.

Access for All: Designing Inclusive Mobility for People with Disabilities

In this webinar recording, speakers from civil society in Pakistan and Indonesia discuss how inclusive participatory engagement leads to more accessible cities around the world. Cities continue to challenge mobility for people with disabilities, and this webinar can help unpack the issues around access and inclusion, and provide a few examples of how inclusive planning can overcome the barriers.

Access and Persons with Disabilities in Urban Areas

This report explores accessible transit-oriented development and sustainable urban mobility through the lens of people with disabilities and offers a set of recommendations to promote responsive actions. For stakeholders from governments, civil society, and donor organizations, this report provides an overview of how land use and transport planning often fail to account for the diverse mobility patterns, lifestyles, and needs of persons with disabilities. This disparity often creates dynamics that widen gaps in our urban infrastructure.

The report also provides potential solutions and recommendations for decision-makers interested in improving all aspects of sustainable mobility and, in particular, for those living with disabilities.

Lviv – From Streets for Cars to Streets for All

This case study report shows how creating a multimodal urban landscape is great not just for users, but for cities as well. While car-ridden streets are hard to retrofit for more equitable use of urban space, cities show that with political will, good design and capacity building, streets can work better for all, and be also more climate responsive. The report is suitable for a wide range of audiences, including practitioners who may be interested in implementing similar reforms. It is especially useful for planners seeking to make cities more equitable for those walking, cycling, and using public transport.

USAID Clean Air Catalyst: Gender Analysis of Air Pollution and Vehicle Transport, India

This report is particularly relevant for policymakers, researchers, activists, community workers, and organizations working in gender, air quality, and transportation sectors. The analysis explains how air pollution, specifically from vehicular emissions, impacts women and girls differently due to factors like mobility patterns, street life, occupational differences, socioeconomic disparities, cultural norms, and political barriers. It aims to ensure that clean air solutions are effective and inclusive by addressing these gender-specific impacts and barriers. With it, readers can have a more informed account of how air pollution reduction projects impact different genders, especially in the setting of India’s transportation landscape.

Taming Traffic

This report is intended for policymakers, decisionmakers, engineers, and other stakeholders looking to increase road safety and create more pleasant environments for walking and cycling. Reducing traffic is a central goal for many cities, but focus is often put on strategies such as new road construction or expansion. Instead, this report emphasizes the role of sustainable solutions in reducing traffic while considering capacity needs of cities. Policy-makers can utilize this resource to better understand traffic reduction approaches, see case studies of how other cities have implemented them, and ultimately decide which approaches would be most suitable for them.

Why Every City Can Benefit From a ‘15-Minute City’ Vision

This blog post touts the benefits of cities adopting a “15-minute city” vision, where they pursue policies that aim to make it easier for residents to access most of their daily needs within a short walking or cycling distance. It’s written primarily for regional planners who may be considering implementing some 15-minute city ideas. The post can also be used to expose the general public to the 15-minute-city concept and its benefits. It provides compelling, data-driven arguments for the adoption of 15-minute city principles. It also includes case studies, and links to a comprehensive guide that provides more detail on how a 15-minute city vision can be implemented.