How can cities build transport systems that are cleaner, more inclusive, and capable of keeping pace with growing urban demands? As Indian cities confront worsening congestion, rising pollution, and growing mobility needs, these questions shaped EPIC India’s Driving Change Dialogue, “Clearing the Air: Lessons from Delhi’s Transport Transition,” held online on 19 May 2026.
The Dialogue had Ms. Niharika Rai (IAS), Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Department of Transport, Government of NCT of Delhi in conversation with Vinay Kumar, Program Manager at EPIC India, alongside a keynote by Dr. Virinder Sharma, Member (Technical), Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The event brought together participants from government, academia, civil society, and the transport policy community to reflect on Delhi’s evolving mobility landscape and its lessons for the wider National Capital Region.
Opening the conversation, Ms. Rai reflected on transport governance as a uniquely visible public sector challenge, where policy decisions immediately shape everyday life.
A central focus of the Dialogue was Delhi’s growing use of technology-enabled enforcement systems, including automated challans, ANPR systems, and camera-based monitoring. While these tools have strengthened enforcement and reduced subjectivity, Ms. Rai stressed that technology must work alongside institutional systems and public compliance. “By reducing human intervention and making it more camera-based, technology has definitely increased deterrence,” she observed.
The discussion also explored Delhi’s electric mobility transition and public transport reforms. Ms. Rai noted that electric bus deployment involves far more than vehicle procurement and requires simultaneous investments in depots, electricity supply, and charging infrastructure.
The conversation highlighted Delhi’s efforts to redesign mobility around commuter needs through route rationalisation and neighbourhood mobility initiatives such as the DEVI bus programme. “Route rationalisation cannot be purely theoretical. Ground truthing matters,” Ms. Rai explained, adding that commuters will embrace public transport only when mobility systems become seamless. “People will switch to public transport when we can make arrangements from their homes to their destination and back.”
The Dialogue also examined the forthcoming Delhi EV Policy 2026 and the city’s broader air quality strategy. For Ms. Rai, cleaner fuels and congestion management remain central priorities. “Vehicular pollution is one of the major causes of pollution in Delhi and we have to work very hard and very fast on it,” she remarked, identifying “transformation to cleaner fuels like EV and dealing with congestion” as essential reforms.
Situating Delhi’s experience within the wider NCR context, Dr. Virinder Sharma highlighted how the city’s transport transition is increasingly informing regional policy approaches.
“Whatever Delhi has come out with, it is important to ensure that the transition happens across the NCR,” he emphasised, outlining CAQM’s work on EV transitions, technological surveillance, and low-emission mobility frameworks.
Participants actively engaged throughout the online session, raising questions on EV subsidies, hydrogen buses, charging infrastructure, and real-world emissions monitoring.
The Dialogue had participants join us from 30+ leading non-profits, government bodies, and research institutions, including TERI, IIT Delhi, CAQM, CEEW, WRI India, The Urban Catalysts, Raahgiri Foundation, Clean Air Better Life, and ICCT India, among others, reflecting growing engagement around sustainable mobility, transport reform, and cleaner urban futures.
The Dialogue concluded with a shared understanding that transport transitions are ultimately governance transitions. As Indian cities confront increasingly complex mobility and air quality challenges, Delhi’s experience offers important lessons on building transport systems that are cleaner, more equitable, and better prepared