Feds sign ‘multi-modal’ transportation deal with India

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has signed a “Memorandum of Cooperation” with his counterpart in India to boost connections between transportation systems in India.

Foxx said in a blog post on the Transportation Department’s website that the deal with India’s minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, would increase the number of transportation options that involve multiple forms of travel. 

“Today, with the swoop of two pens, India and America took a bold step towards a future where all forms of transportation — roads, rails, ports, airports — work together seamlessly,” he wrote. 

{mosads}“Both India and America face shared challenges when it comes to the future of transportation: more people to move; more freight to carry; a climate where bigger, deadlier storms occur more often,” he continued. “And while we do not yet know exactly HOW we can overcome all these challenges, we understand that any solution must be guided by the same general principle: multi-modalism.”

Foxx is in India this week to explore the construction projects in the country as U.S. lawmakers struggle with a way to pay for an extension of federal transportation funding.

He said it is important for India to offer multiple forms of transportation because travelers in both that country and the U.S. typically rely on making connections to reach their final destinations.

“When people commute to work or travel for business, they don’t typically travel in only one way — they walk to the metro, and metro to the airport; and when goods go from the factory to the shelf, they have to be carried by ship and then by rail first,” he wrote. “Transportation is a connected thing, and transportation policymaking must be the same. It cannot be walled off into silos.” 

Foxx said the agreement would result in higher fuel efficiency standards and easier freight movement in India. 

“We are proposing an inter-ministerial working group that would address in a holistic manner the transportation elements of Smart Cities such as: livability, multi-modal planning, safety, ITS, and financing,” he wrote. “Under this agreement, both countries also agreed to cooperate on vehicle fuel efficiency standards and promotion of dedicated freight corridors to facilitate the movement of goods from India’s ports to major cities of the region.”