Urban public bus transport in India : problems and prospects.

The proliferation of personalised transport in the Indian metropolitan cities poses a serious threat to the environment and safety. This paper discusses the state of the public transport in metropolitan cities, the competition, modal shift, regulation, technology upgradation, public private partnership, road safety, Intelligent Transport System applications and funding. It calls for policy interventions like the polluter pays and the beneficiary bears and regulatory mechanism to ensure that the public purpose and the public interest are sustained in the provision of public transport.