Low metro ridership despite ₹4.5 lakh cr spend; India needs new transport policy: Study

MEtro systems do to a lesser extent than 5% of new delhi’s universe and below 3% of residents in Bengaluru and Hyderabad despite an investment of ₹4.5 lakh crore in 1,095-km of rail networks across 26 cities, according to a review of the 2006 National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) presented on Friday at the Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP).The review, led by ISSP’s professor of practice OP Agarwal, who was also the lead author of the 2006 NUTP, found that implementation of the 20-year-old policy became heavily skewed towards metro rail projects while neglecting bus services and non-motorised transport, which the policy had identified as priorities.It called for the Union government to constitute an expert committee to prepare a National Urban Transport Policy 2026, saying the existing framework no longer adequately addresses contemporary urban mobility challenges.The findings of the review underscore a widening gap between investment and ridership. While the NUTP sought to shift commuters away from private vehicles and towards public transport, registered vehicles in India increased from 90 million in 2006 to 413 million at present, the report said.“The core problem was motorisation. If you look at motorisation, the core objective of the NUTP was how do you slow down this because this is the root cause. How do you slow it down? It is in this context that the key recommendation was a shift from personal vehicles to public transport,” Agarwal said.Also Read:MP Metro allows birthday parties to generate revenue and boost ridershipHe highlighted that while the country took 55 years to reach 90 million registered vehicles by 2006, it added another 320 million vehicles in just the past two decades.The review attributed much of this growth to the neglect of bus systems, which remain inadequate in most cities except Bengaluru. As a result, fuel-efficient two-wheelers have emerged as the preferred mode of transport by offering direct “bed-to-office” connectivity that public transport systems often fail to provide.Speaking at the event, former bureaucrat Sanjiv Sahai who headed Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited said urban transport planning must move beyond a focus on large infrastructure projects and pay greater attention to the commuter experience.“To move beyond suboptimal outcomes, we must focus on the granular details of what a commuter truly values: comfort, reliability and convenience. Instead of being obsessed only with building massive physical assets like metros, we need to prioritise operational excellence—such as ensuring buses arrive on schedule—to provide a truly competitive and affordable alternative to personal vehicles,” Sahai said.The review said the new policy must address several gaps that were either underestimated in 2006 or have emerged over the past two decades. These include demand-management measures such as higher parking charges, the rapid motorisation of smaller cities, and the need to strengthen bus systems and non-motorised transport that were overshadowed by metro expansion. It also called for greater recognition of para-transit services and stronger integration of transit-oriented development with mass transit networks.It said that ride-hailing platforms, e-commerce-driven freight movement and climate change have transformed urban mobility since the original policy was framed. It recommended greater use of data and technology in transport planning and a sharper focus on accelerating electric vehicle adoption.It also highlighted the need to integrate transport planning with affordable rental housing for low-income workers, arguing that long commutes from informal settlements undermine mobility goals.Among its recommendations are the creation of an integrated urban mobility ecosystem and new financing mechanisms for public transport. The report said monetising public land assets, including Delhi Transport Corporation bus depots, could generate up to ₹4,000 crore annually in rental income.It also suggested interest subvention on vehicle loans as a more effective way to promote EV adoption and argued that cities should move away from standalone infrastructure projects towards integrated planning that links transport, housing and land use.