OMI Foundation Launches ‘Ease of Moving Index – Chennai City Profile’
~ Spotlight on Inclusive and Sustainable Mobility in Chennai ~
CHENNAI, February 27, 2024 – The OMI Foundation unveiled the ‘Ease of Moving Index – Chennai City Profile,’ a pivotal analysis showcasing Chennai’s strides towards a sustainable and inclusive mobility ecosystem, today. The first-of-its-kind report was launched at the conference, ‘Ease of Moving in Chennai – A Sustainable Mobility Dialogue’, organised by OMI Foundation in strategic partnership with IIT Madras. The conference was graced by sustainable mobility stakeholders – city authorities, industry, citizens, and media, reflecting on the city’s resilience after the pandemic, and recent floods and climate challenges.
Key Highlights:
Public Transport Utilisation: Over 95% of the respondents leverage Chennai’s efficient public transport regularly, underscoring its pivotal role in the city’s mobility landscape.
Public Transport Coverage: Chennai shines with the 2nd highest percentage of respondents within 10 minutes of public transit by walk or cycle.
Gender Inclusive Mobility: Stands as a model for gender inclusivity, ranking 3rd, among Mega Cities, in percentage of women and trans/non-binary using public transport.
Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority: One of the only 14 cities nationally to integrate its transport operations under a unified metropolitan transport authority, streamlining mobility management.
Benchmarking Mobility: Positioned 15th on the Ease of Moving Index, the city profile empowers stakeholders with data-driven insights for mobility enhancements.
The Ease of Moving Index is an evidence-based framework developed by OMI Foundation to measure and benchmark mobility in cities. It evaluates mobility across 9 parameters, 41 indicators, and 110 metrics in 40 Indian cities of varying sizes and characteristics. In the 2022 edition of the exercise, OMI surveyed over 50,000+ respondents, stratified by gender, disability, and household income, in India’s largest mobility survey, thus holistically capturing citizens’ mobility patterns, needs, aspirations, and perceptions of mobility infrastructure and services. The main report can be found here.
In Chennai, the OMI Foundation conducted the Ease of Moving Index survey with over 3,100+ respondents, including 43% women, 2% trans/non-binary, 4.3% persons with disabilities, with 57% owning their homes. Additionally, 3% were caregivers, 7% casual or contract workers, 8% gig-platform workers, 9% self-employed or own account workers, among other demographics. The findings from the comprehensive survey provide invaluable insights on mobility in Chennai, offering opportunities for policy and on-ground action.
Central to Chennai’s urban fabric is its extensive and reliable transit infrastructure. Despite variations in bus fleet size and