Challenges of localizing sustainable development goals in small cities: Research to action

The national governments have committed to various sustainable development goals (SDGs); however, actions have to be taken by the local administrations at the city level. In this paper, the city administrations' understanding and preparedness for implementing specific activities related to SDG targets 3.6, 3.9, and 11.2 are discussed. The results of how local communities can participate in prioritizing the implementation of SDG targets at the city level are also presented. Three small cities in India, namely Bulandshahr, Patiala, and Nainital, were monitored for three years. The research team worked closely with the local administrations and local citizens. This paper presents an analysis of the various activities undertaken by the research team and concludes that SDGs can be used as tools for providing ready targets to the authorities, bringing them to a common working ground. The SDG implementation in India follows the top–down approach; however, to achieve the SDG targets, the bottom–up approach should be followed. SDGs are not a priority for several city governments. Cities need encouragement and national support to adopt and implement these SDGs. We have to think of how SDGs can be used to influence day-to-day decisions. SDGs can also be a part of the outcome-based budget of municipalities to prioritize the implementation of SDG-oriented urban infrastructure and plans.     

Future of road safety and SDG 3.6 goals in six Indian cities

In this paper, we use estimates of the effectiveness of existing road safety technologies and interventions to estimate the reduction in road safety deaths in six Indian cities over the next decade, in order to achieve the SDG 3.6 goal of a 50% reduction by 2030. Only the existing interventions are considered and technologies that might be available in the future are not accounted for. The results show that similar policies for all cities will not produce the same results, and that achieving the SDG 3.6 goal does not automatically reduce fatality rates in cities with high fatality rates. The introduction of safer cars with currently available safety technologies, although necessary, will have much less effect than the combined effect of motorcycle safety technologies, speed control and traffic calming. This study suggests that while SDG 3.6 targets may be satisfied by 2030 with great effort in India, the presently available safety interventions may not be adequate to bring about death rates below 2.0 per hundred thousand persons. Since the situation differs significantly between cities, it will be important to evolve city-specific policies for safety intervention priorities and changes in travel behavior. The desired reduction in road traffic injuries in India will not be possible without much greater investment in road safety research and road design for safer travel.     

Transport carriers’ cooperation on the last-mile delivery in urban areas

Transportation - A sharing logistics platform for less-than-truckloads could increase efficiency in city pickup and last-mile deliveries under time window constraints by pairing (matching) truck...