EMBARQ CST-India, in collaboration with GTZ, organized a technical workshop on Active Transportation at the India International Centre in Delhi on 3rd - 4th November 2009. The workshop was part of an initiative by the Global Environmental Facility at the World Bank for a peer-to-peer sharing of proposals, ideas, concerns with integrating infrastructure for Non-Motorized Transportation in Indian cities.

The workshop opened with presentations by various experts on international case studies of integrated infrastructure for active transportation, case studies of such initiatives in urban India, public feedback systems, guidelines for active transportation planning, and marketing and outreach strategies for public awareness and participation. The trainers for the workshop comprised a diverse range of experts including Santosh Kodukula from GTZ-Delhi, Chris Kost from ITDP-Ahmedabad, Seema Tiwari from ACT-Goa, Sandeep Gandhi from Delhi. Along with the presentations, short films on public bike sharing initiatives in Paris, London and Netherlands were played along with documentaries on users of local non-motorized transportation in the Delhi Metropolitan Area. The first day of the workshop also included a group site visit to the Chirag Delhi junction in south Delhi, where participants observed the effects of vehicular segregation and traffic prioritization on users of non-motorized transport.

Each of the presentations was followed by an active participant discussion on barriers and adaptation strategies for integrated infrastructure for NMT to the local urban context, technological innovations in cycle rickshaws, alleviation of class biases in transportation planning, pedestrianization strategies and public outreach efforts. The workshop was attended by more than 20 participants from across the country including representatives from the three GEF cities – Pune, Jalandhar and Naya Raipur.