We live in hypermobile societies where high involvement in mobility is required to stay active and well connected to society, such as friends and family, shops and services etc., and hence being mobile has a relationship with quality of life. Transport was and will continue to remain a critical enabler for economic and social progress, however health and wellbeing is a critical factor that needs to be emphasised. Transport as an indicator of wellbeing is increasingly important for modern societies, as it relates to opportunities, jobs, housing, healthcare, etc. for participating societies. Therefore, it is essential to focus on the transport element for wellbeing, in order to develop sustainable policies for positive behaviour change with the arrival of new technologies.

There is already a huge momentum, awareness and will to change to clean mobility in the transport industry, however, it is time that we think about sustainable transport from a more people-centric, inclusive and holistic approach. Many targets are already there, but the achievability roadmap from a consumer-centric perspective is missing, which results in the gap between the actual on-ground numbers and the targets set by the government or OEMs. After all, it is for the people and by the people that these initiatives need to be accepted and adopted to be able to tackle this common goal of climate change. With proper research, we hope to achieve a vision for an inclusive, traditionally sustainable, affordable, and holistic mobility system where we march towards a healthier and happier society.

Shravani Sharma in Conversation – Part 1

The impact of climate change on transport planning, being a bicycle councillor, transport behaviour change, transport policies and lack of communication between policy makers and users, travel priorities in developing countries and issues with multiple car ownership.

Shravani Sharma in Conversation – Part 2

Bicycle mayors, councillors and ambassadors, tactical urbanism and working methods, cycle lanes, walking mayors and councillors, changing the culture of travel, her work on COP26 and RouteZero, public engagement by local government, her future work plans and ideas for the future of CovCAN.