Nepal - Kathmandu
The Urban Pathways Implementation Tracker is tracking the Projects Progress
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Kathmandu
Urban Pathways has supported Kathmandu since 2018, the capital city of Nepal, in the Mobility and waste sectors. Besides the support on project concept development (e.g. on E-mobility explained below), Urban Pathways organised capacity building events in which various stakeholders participated in international training events, online webinars and peer-to-peer learning. To raise awareness on active mobility and air quality improvement, the city was provided with an air quality measuring device ‘Smart Citizen Kit’, to measure the effectiveness of the events, such as car-free days and fa- cilitate dialogues between city authority and locals. The city Mayor was invited to an exchange and peer-to-peer learning event in the ‘‘Intergovernmental Twelfth Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia’ in Hanoi, Vietnam. Further cooperation possibilities on Urban Pathways’ focus sectors are being explored. |
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Pilot and Demonstration Action
Scale-up E-mobility
The vehicle emission is a major cause of the air pollution in Kathmandu. The promotion of electric public transport is one of the best ways to address this problem. Kathmandu Valley currently has around 700 Electric three- wheelers (named Safa Tempos with 10 seater) that were introduced over 20 years ago. While the Safa Tempo are providing a valuable fedder service, they need improvements both in terms of their technical performance and their looks and comfort. The improved system would have a higher upfront cost, which many Safa tempo owners were hesitant to carry out. The lack of enough local capacity (e.g. maintenance and repair) is also hindering scaling up e-mobility in the city.
Urban Pathways has supported Public transport operators to develop a project concept to improve/redesign Safa Tempo with appropriate business models together with various stakeholders. A contact with a local bank was done and a provision of soft loan was planned within the project which was given to Safa Tempo owners to cover part of the capital costs of newly designed vehicles. The initial loan would be provided to 15 Safa Tempos for technical improvement and then the revolving fund was planned till all Safa Tempos are converted. Developing standards for EVs and charging infrastructure and building local capacity of EV operation and maintenance was also planned.
The project concept was submitted in December 2018 to the 2019 TUMI Global Urban Mo- bility Challenge for the award of financial support/grant by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. However, it could not pass through. Therefore, the concept was resubmitted for another grant.
Budget: 144,000 EUR from TUMI (+ city budget 175,000 EUR)
Scale-up E-mobility
The vehicle emission is a major cause of the air pollution in Kathmandu. The promotion of electric public transport is one of the best ways to address this problem. Kathmandu Valley currently has around 700 Electric three- wheelers (named Safa Tempos with 10 seater) that were introduced over 20 years ago. While the Safa Tempo are providing a valuable fedder service, they need improvements both in terms of their technical performance and their looks and comfort. The improved system would have a higher upfront cost, which many Safa tempo owners were hesitant to carry out. The lack of enough local capacity (e.g. maintenance and repair) is also hindering scaling up e-mobility in the city.
Urban Pathways has supported Public transport operators to develop a project concept to improve/redesign Safa Tempo with appropriate business models together with various stakeholders. A contact with a local bank was done and a provision of soft loan was planned within the project which was given to Safa Tempo owners to cover part of the capital costs of newly designed vehicles. The initial loan would be provided to 15 Safa Tempos for technical improvement and then the revolving fund was planned till all Safa Tempos are converted. Developing standards for EVs and charging infrastructure and building local capacity of EV operation and maintenance was also planned.
The project concept was submitted in December 2018 to the 2019 TUMI Global Urban Mo- bility Challenge for the award of financial support/grant by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. However, it could not pass through. Therefore, the concept was resubmitted for another grant.
Budget: 144,000 EUR from TUMI (+ city budget 175,000 EUR)
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E-mobility in public transportation
In Kathmandu, a demonstration action will create an ecosystem for electric mobility in the city by enhancing EVs in public transport, as well as suitable charging solutions and related services. To introduce E-buses and slowly replace diesel buses in the public transport sector, a pilot research project on conversion of diesel bus to e-bus will take place by local manufacturers/start-ups. Several existing E-3-wheelers (named Safa Tempo) will be remodelled or redesigned using Valeo Powertrain and Li-ion batteries (instead of lead-acid batteries) and refurbishing the chassis, assembling the vehicle parts locally. This will increase the quality, efficiency and comfort compared to existing one. |
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This will provide better services for E-3-wheelers as public transportation in the city. E-scooters/e-bike sharing systems will also be explored, that reduce the dependence on owning private vehicles. A suitable business model for the demo activities will be developed within the project. As charging infrastructure is poor or non-existent in public, suitable options for charging EVs and batteries will be suggested. The demonstration also supports promotional activities to raise awareness on EVs, enhance vehicle integration with the introduction of digital application for smart ticketing and payment and fleet management. The proposed demonstration project concept was submitted on 25 April 2019 as a part of EC H2020 proposal for funding. It will be implemented by SOLUTIONSplus project (project duration 01/2020 – 12/2023) together with local public transport operator ‘Sajha Yatayat’.
Budget: 1,500,000 EUR
Estimated direct GHG emissions reduction: 300 tCO2/year
Budget: 1,500,000 EUR
Estimated direct GHG emissions reduction: 300 tCO2/year
Car-free day in Kilagal
During the time of mobility week (on 16th Nov. 2019), a local event car-free day was organised in a small stretch (around 516m) of congested but historic street of Kathmandu in Kilagal, together with Kilagal ward no. 18 and local NGOs. The event (named Kilagal Festival) showcased the ward officials and locals - the effect of active mobility, such as reduced air pollution and increased pedestrian safety as well as local businesses. The data collected by an air quality monitoring device, provided by Urban Pathways project, showed that PM 1/ 2.5/ 10 was the lowest compared to the average seven days. The survey (total respondent 189) carried out on the day also showed that most of the respondents were convinced about making the street pedestrian friendly. However, the street has not been converted yet.
Urban Pathways is still in contact with the local NGOs and is providing support on policy advice and case examples from other cities, to push for converting the street pedestrian friendly.
Budget: 350 EUR (Device cost) + City’s own budget
Estimated direct GHG emissions reduction : 800 tCO2/year
During the time of mobility week (on 16th Nov. 2019), a local event car-free day was organised in a small stretch (around 516m) of congested but historic street of Kathmandu in Kilagal, together with Kilagal ward no. 18 and local NGOs. The event (named Kilagal Festival) showcased the ward officials and locals - the effect of active mobility, such as reduced air pollution and increased pedestrian safety as well as local businesses. The data collected by an air quality monitoring device, provided by Urban Pathways project, showed that PM 1/ 2.5/ 10 was the lowest compared to the average seven days. The survey (total respondent 189) carried out on the day also showed that most of the respondents were convinced about making the street pedestrian friendly. However, the street has not been converted yet.
Urban Pathways is still in contact with the local NGOs and is providing support on policy advice and case examples from other cities, to push for converting the street pedestrian friendly.
Budget: 350 EUR (Device cost) + City’s own budget
Estimated direct GHG emissions reduction : 800 tCO2/year
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Outlook: Planned and/or Possible Future Action
Portable Air Quality Monitoring device Air quality is a prime concern in Kathmandu. According to the 2016 Environmental Performance Index (EP) ranked Nepal 117th out of 180 countries. Kathmandu is ranked one of the most polluted cities in Asia (7th position so far). The main sources are the vehicles and dust particles, affecting citizen’s health. On the other hand, the data regarding air quality is also inadequate and poor. The placement of low cost monitoring devices at several locations would generate data easily and cost effectively. Urban Pathways will support Kathmandu on capacity building to develop or assemble such low cost air quality monitoring devices (e.g. similar to Smart Citizen Kit by Fab Lab). A local NGO (G.D. Lab) in Kathmandu has been identified, who are working on developing devices locally. The involvement of Open Seneca (as in the previous activities under Urban Pathways) will be sought to guide and explain the locals in Kathmandu the stepwise method to build the air quality mea-suring devices. On the pilot phase, the project will seek to assemble 10 devices locally. Budget: 5,000 EUR |
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Country Profile
Kathmandu is the country’s capital and the largest city (population of 1 million), followed by Pokhara, Lalitpur, Bharatpur and Birgunj metropolitan cities (population above 200,000). The Kathmandu valley includes 3 cities – Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur with total area of 570 sq. km. The population of the valley is 2.5 million with annual growth rate of 4.63% (3.5 million unofficial). This represents 9.32% of entire population of country. Some of the initiatives on energy generation/conservation, sustainable transport and waste management in the valley are discussed below. |
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Project Development
The Kathmandu valley includes 3 cities – Kathmandu (the capital city), Lalitpur and Bhaktapur and has the population of 2.5 million with annual growth rate of 4.63% (3.5 million unofficial). Air pollution is the leading cause of death in the valley, including pollution due to fossil-fuel run transport. Air pollution in Kathmandu is very high with average annual PM2.5 levels that are five times higher than WHO guidelines. Also Nepal imports 100% fossil fuels which has many issues including energy security. The Government of Nepal is supporting promotion of electric vehicles in the country through favorable policies and actions. Beside few electric cars and buses, E tuk-tuk named ‘Safa Tempo’, with a seating capacity of max. 11 people is running in the valley. It is considered as an easy and affordable means of public transport which can pass through narrow streets of the city and stops at shorter distances (Shrestha, 2018). |
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Policy Environment Paper: Kathmandu
Urban Policy Paper on "Evaluating the Effect of Policies, Vehicle Attributes and Charging Infrastructure on Electric Vehicles Diffusion in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal" Abstract: This research presents a rigorous study of electric vehicles growth in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal based on the public response to various issues, prospects, and policies related to electrical vehicle growth in Nepal. Two surveys were carried out to take data from the public response to EVs, which are presented and explained in this paper. Study of public response to EV policies, both in current state and in utopian consumer preferred policy states has been carried out and compared in this research. Furthermore, the system dynamics analysis and EV growth projection of same two sets of data obtained from these surveys using two software tools, viz VENSIM-PLE and MATLAB are done and presented herewith. In addition to this, the change in level of CO2 emission with EV growth, their sensitivity analysis to different related variables, etc are also included in this paper. Summing up, this paper shows a projection of EV growth in Kathmandu valley under different policy status and the related effects of EV growth using System Dynamics programming and simulation tools for result validation. |
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Policy Environment Paper: Nepal
This paper aims to identify policy measures in line with the UN’s New Urban Agenda and in the context of the respective Nationally Determined Contributions of Nepal. This paper reviews current developments of Nepal to mitigate and adapt to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by focusing on the country’s national policies and implementation strategies in keeping with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (2015). A brief analysis of the Kathmandu Valley’s strategies to accordingly mitigate and adapt is conducted by reviewing the sectors of energy, transport and resource/waste management. |
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Action Plans
"Giving the residents Kamalamai a great sense of security and well-being” The municipality of Kamalamai (Nepal) faces some major issues, including insufficient Solid Waste Management and the lack of street lights in urban areas. Kamalamai municipality is in the process of soliciting technical and financial resources from national and international agencies so that it is able to adequately manage solid waste, install solar street lights and maintain overall city hygiene and general cleanliness – Ashish Gajural, Senior Manager, Project Development and Management, Accelerating Public and Private Investment in Infrastructure Component (APPIIC) Nepal: Nepal and Raju Neupane, Nepals’ department of Urban Development and Building Construction both support the municipality’s call-for-support. |
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Bankable Project
While the Safa Tempo are providing a valuable service, they need improvements both in terms of their technical performance and their looks and comfort. The Safa Tempo use lead acid batteries which are not very efficient and need to be replaced every year or so. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries last much longer and give a longer range so that the batteries do not need to be changed mid-way during day as it is currently done. Converting Safa Tempo battery to Li-ion will therefore improve performance as well as profitability and make them more sustainable. Many Safa Tempo owners also want to replace their batteries with Li-ion batteries, but the high upfront cost of Li-ion batteries is holding them back. Furthermore, there is also a need for suitable policies and standards on electric vehicles and charging equipment, as well as local capacity to operate and maintain EVs, to scale up their use. This project is therefore designed to address these issues related to e-mobility by helping improve the performance of Safa Tempos, develop appropriate standards and local capacity to operate and maintain the EVs. |
