AHMEDABAD: In Ahmedabad, the symphony of public transport gets drowned out by the cacophony of private vehicles. While the city’s population has more than doubled from 35 lakh in 1990 to 78 lakh in 2024, the number of buses serving this growing populace has barely inched forward — from 931 to just over 1,000.
This mathematical mismatch is but one symptom of the malady afflicting the city’s transit system.A senior official from the AMC, speaking on condition of anonymity, painted a picture of a city grappling with its own growth.
“We’ve expanded from 196 sq km to over 486 sq km between early 2000 and now. And yet our public transport has not kept pace with it.”
The numbers tell a sobering tale. While the Centre’s service-level benchmark recommends 60 buses per 1 lakh residents — which means 4,800 buses for Ahmedabad — the city has barely a quarter of that number. Compare this to Bengaluru, where 6,700 buses serve 1.1 crore people, and the shortfall becomes glaringly apparent.
The BRTS, introduced with much fanfare in 2009, was meant to change people’s perception of public transport. With air-conditioned buses arriving every two minutes and fares that don’t break the bank, it seemed that people would take to a new traffic culture with ease.
“Mere fanfare is insufficient. Managing transportation operations is a huge task. How much does AMC contribute to improving our public transport network? While BRTS operating costs are Rs 65-70 per bus/ km, that of AMTS is Rs 125. We have pensions and salaries for AMTS while BRTS hires employees on contract for much cheaper,” the AMC official said.
Ridership remains stubbornly low in both networks. The official explained, “We can’t seem to rebuild the habit of bus travel. As two wheelers continue to grow and dominate the streets — a trend that has seen accident fatalities spike from 105 in 2005 to 535 today — the need for a robust public transport system has never been more urgent.”
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