On September 22nd, Parisar organised on-ground activities to build a buzz around the concept of car-free cities. The event witnessed a lot of one-on-one engagement with people passing by on the street.

The session started with an engaging street play by the Mangal Theatre artists who touched upon the idea of cycling in the city, some of the benefits of cycling, and a representation of what would happen if a person of authority advocates for improving cycle infrastructure in the city. They even added a rhythmic twist with some catchy rap music on ‘cycle and cycling’!

Want to relive the performance? Catch the recorded version of the play on our YouTube channel.

In the pursuit of designing user-centric solutions for urban mobility challenges, directed storytelling workshops offer a powerful tool for gathering insights and fostering empathy. Here, we provide an in-depth look at the flow of a directed storytelling workshop we conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how individuals perceive and experience car-dependent cities and the potential for alternative modes of transportation.

The Pune Bicycle Plan was approved by PMC’s General Body on 14 December 2017. The Cycle Plan has been prepared with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt of India and includes proposals for a city-wide cycle network, a detailed project report (DPR) for a Public Bicycle Share system, cycle promotion activities, participatory reviews of plan implementation etc.

On the occasion of World Bicycle Day, NGOs Save Pune Traffic Movement (SPTM) and Parisar conducted an experiment to find out how the bicycle fares as a mode of transit compared to the car. Simultaneous trips spanning around 100 kms across the city were made by car and bicycle during peak hours on three days to find out how the bicycle fares when compared to the car. 

It was found that on average, a bicycle needs just 45 seconds - 1 minute more than a car to go 1 km.