India is presently experiencing rapid and massive urbanisation similar to other developing countries. Consequently, urban transport demand has been greatly increasing. The issue of `sustainable' development mainly arises from inadequate supply of mass transport services and rising use of personal motor vehicles in cities. The existing travel patterns are not `sustainable' in the long run. Although it will be possible to reduce vehicular emissions by technologically improved vehicles, the problems of road congestion, excessive energy consumption, equity and road safety will still remain. This paper concludes that direction of India's urban transport policy should capitalise on the existing model split in favour of mass transport, by promoting policies and programmes that encourage the use of these modes further and discourage that of personal motor vehicles. The paper presents a framework for a `sustainable' urban transport policy for India. (A) The French title of the paper is: "Politiques de transport urbain durable pour les pays en voie de développement".
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