In India, more than three hundred million people live in urban centres. The demand for travel is rapidly growing with the increasing size of cities and rising socioeconomic levels of the urban residents. Almost all the cities are dependent on road based transport systems consisting of buses, cars, motorised two wheelers, autorickshaws, taxis, cycles, and cycle rickshaws. In the absence of well thought out policies for development of urban transport, the transport modes are growing haphazardly and are in conflict with each other. This situation has resulted in growing traffic congestion and concomitant environmental pollution and traffic accidents in the cities. Therefore there is a need to critically appreciate the urban transport problems and issues with a view to evolve plausible planning options for a sustainable urban transport in India. This paper describes the existing situation and problems of urban transport in India in general and attempts to appreciate the imminent role and issues of low cost modes (LCM) along with suggestions for improved operations.
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