Indian cities need to move beyond isolated transport projects and develop connected mobility networks that combine public transport, walkable streets, reliable last-mile services and stronger participation from employers, speakers at the Mobility Symposium 2026 said. The discussions focused on making daily travel more accessible, resilient and better integrated across growing urban centres.

The third edition of the symposium, hosted by MoveInSync, brought together city administrators, policymakers, corporate leaders and mobility experts from Bengaluru, Cyberabad and Ahmedabad. Participants examined ways to improve connections between different modes of transport and address the difficulties faced by commuters travelling to workplaces and residential areas.

Maheshwar Rao, Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), identified increasing bus availability and improving pedestrian infrastructure as key priorities for Bengaluru. He said the city was aiming to add close to 3,000 buses and stressed the need for wider footpaths, better pedestrian access and greater employer support for public transport through incentives. Rao also urged technology park owners to work with authorities to improve access to workplaces.

The symposium also addressed climate resilience and urban infrastructure. Rao said Bengaluru needed a long-term approach to urban drainage and outlined preliminary plans to identify locations for public heat shelters. Ahmedabad city administrator Banchhanidhi Pani highlighted multimodal integration, single ticketing and journey planning, while also calling for transport routes to be protected from flooding and for commuter comfort to improve during extreme heat.

MLA Sharath Bache Gowda called for transport networks to be formalised in rapidly growing towns around Bengaluru. He said towns and municipalities needed more structured transport infrastructure, pointing to costly and unorganised last-mile journeys between bus stations and homes. The discussions underscored the need for coordinated planning among civic authorities, transport agencies, employers and technology park operators to create more dependable urban mobility systems.