Surat won the award for the city with the best public transport system, while Kochi was judged the city with most sustainable transport system by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

The awards were given out by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at the end of the day-long Urban Mobility India conference here. Delhi received the award for the city with the best non-motorised transport system for the Chandni Chowk redevelopment project. Delhi also won the best Metro passenger services and satisfaction award, while Nagpur’s multi-modal integration with Metro rail was found to be the best in the country.

During the conference, Mr. Puri announced the theme of next year’s conference, which will be the 15th edition, as “Azadi@75: Sustainable Atmanirbhar Urban Mobility” to be held in Kochi.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Puri inaugurated the conference, which was held online for the second year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Puri said that the urban population of the world was expected to increase to 60% by 2030, from 56% in 2020, and about 90% of this increase was expected in Asia and Africa. He said the need for sustainable mobility and universal access was crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals.

In his keynote address, Daniel Moser, the head of Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative, Germany, said the world had 15 years to address the pressing issues. He said more urban areas would be constructed in the first the three decades of the 21st Century than all of history.

“Urban transport is the make and break of the global climate agenda,” he said, adding that it accounted for 23% of carbon emissions and 61% of global oil demand. He said cities needed to become “hyperlocal”, where all residents can meet all their needs within a 15-minute walk or a cycle ride.