Centre for Public Policy Research: Urban Mobility Research Across Five Cities, focusing on Jaipur.

At the Centre for Public Policy Research, Vaanya worked on a multi-city research project examining whether there was a gap between the supply of and demand for public bus transport in India.

She primarily focused on Jaipur, where she independently was responsible for analyzing the supply side of the city's bus ecosystem. This involved studying annual reports and operational data to identify trends in ridership, fleet utilization, and spending patterns, and understanding where inefficiencies existed.

One finding that stood out was the disconnect between public spending and commuter preferences. While the share of trips made by buses was declining and a significant proportion of people preferred non-motorized modes such as walking and cycling, investment continued to be disproportionately directed toward bus operations rather than supporting infrastructure like footpaths. She also observed that bus frequencies on several low-footfall routes appeared to remain unchanged despite declining demand, highlighting potential inefficiencies in resource allocation.

On the demand side, she contributed to the design and testing of commuter surveys, helping refine the questionnaire during pilot rounds to ensure it captured reliable and comparable data before the study was rolled out across multiple cities.

The experience strengthened her ability to combine quantitative analysis with qualitative research, synthesize evidence from multiple sources, and translate complex datasets into actionable insights for policy recommendations.