3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 24, 2026 07:14 PM IST
On the other hand, daily metro ridership in the city, including Airport and Rapid Metro lines, has risen rapidly over the last seven years. (File Photo)
Delhiites have started travelling greener and cleaner over the last six years, according to the Economic Survey of Delhi 2025-26 tabled on Monday in the Assembly by CM Rekha Gupta. While the total number of private vehicles dropped due to deregistration, public transport reliance is at an all-time high.
Over the last five years, vehicles per 1,000 population have fallen from 655 in 2020-21 to 522 in 2025-26 so far. (see box). “The sharp drop is primarily attributed to the large-scale deregistration of overage vehicles,” an official said. Two-wheelers form about 68% of the total registered vehicles in the Capital.
“GNCTD has banned diesel vehicles (that are) more than 10-year-old and petrol vehicles that are more than 15-year-old. So, deregistered 66,20,160 (66 lakh) vehicles upto 2025-26 (19th March 2026),” the survey states.
On the other hand, daily Metro ridership in the city, including Airport and Rapid Metro lines, has risen rapidly over the last seven years. While in 2018-19, the average daily ridership was 25.9 lakh, the number grew to over 63 lakh in 2024-25. During this period, the length of the operational route remained the same.
DTC and cluster buses present a mixed picture. In 2019-20, DTC buses saw a total of 33.39 lakh passengers daily. For 2025-26, the number stands at 24.28 lakh. The number of daily passengers in cluster buses was 15.25 lakh in 2024-25. This number stood at 17.71 lakh in 2019-20. “This is because a lot of old buses have been phased out. Every month, we are getting over 100 EV buses,” an official said.
“As in March 2026, DTC & DoT has a fleet size of 6,100 buses, comprising 1,002 Non AC low floor (CNG) buses, 760 AC low floor (CNG) buses, 2,750 AC low floor (Electric-12 Mt.) and 1,588 AC low floor (Electric-9 Mt.) buses,” the survey read.
Meanwhile, the number of electric buses have also risen rapidly over the years. While in April 2021, Delhi had just two electric buses, the number rose to 4,338 by March this year.
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To support EVs, the Delhi government has also ramped up its charging infrastructure. As on March 19, there are a total of 4.7 lakh EVs registered in the NCT of Delhi.
“As on 31.03.2025, Delhi has 3,100 charging stations and 893 battery swapping stations across Delhi. 5.7 Electric Buses: In March 2026, the total number of electric buses including DTC + DOT were 4,338. Further, 1,610 buses (including 50 metro feeders) will be inducted by 2026-27,” the survey underlines.
Aiming at ease of pedestrians, the Delhi government also has set a target of 16 foot overbridges during FY 26-27.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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