Under Reform is delighted to announce an event being held as a result of its September Indo-UK Study Tour. Mr Nitish Bakshi, of Atkins and currently on secondment to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), will deliver a session on Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to Bangalore’s senior officials and directors in transport on Thursday 19th December 2019 at the city’s Administrative Research Institute.
During the Study Tour Mr Bakshi delivered a talk on MaaS as understood in the Manchester context. The talk took place in Manchester’s Media City, allowing the Study Tour participants to see and experience several of the city’s integrated transport services. Mr Bakshi’s talk resonated with Ms Manjula Vinjamuri, an Indian Administrative Service officer of Bangalore, Karnataka, who later contacted Mr Bakshi. Ms Vinjamuri has been at the forefront of Bangalore’s sustainable mobility movement and thought that much could be learned from the Manchester context. From this exchange the planned interaction, organised by the Karnataka Government Secretariat, took shape.
Mr Bakshi said the aim of the session in the first instance will be to get participants thinking: his presentation will be followed by a discussion session to explore the issues and their relevance to the local context in more detail as a group. In the long-term, he hopes this opportunity to share lessons from TfGM’s experience will be a positive contribution to the relationship between the two cities, as well as supporting development should the city of Bangalore wish to explore the implementation of MaaS further.
Mr Bakshi worked for Honda India for five years before moving to Manchester to undertake an MBA. Upon completion of his studies he began work for Atkins and, following involvement in the proof of concept for MaaS, was seconded to TfGM. His talk to Under Reform’s guests in Manchester this September discussed the process of MaaS, what it is and the fact that different entities may define and use the term in slightly different ways, as well as looking at TfGM’s approach to the issue. Said approach has involved working carefully from small pilot projects, one or two of which were shared in more detail. The presentation in India is expected to take place along similar lines.
Under Reform is pleased to see that one of our activities has led to such positive international collaboration. We trust the session will be fruitful for all concerned; and given Mr Bakshi will be combining it with a return home over the holiday season, we wish him an otherwise restful and enjoyable break!