One out of three Delhi localities lack access to a bus stop. Here’s what a study shows

The working paper, titled ‘Neighbourhood Public Transit Services: Bus-Based Public Transport Supply in Delhi’, makes the case for the introduction of a reliable, short-distance, high-frequency neighbourhood-level bus service.

Last week, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had launched 400 electric buses under the Delhi Vehicle Interconnector (DEVI) scheme. Last year, then Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, had flagged off trials of a mohalla bus service, under which nine-metre buses, different from the standard 12-metre ones, would ply on Delhi streets to boost last-mile connectivity. The scheme’s name was changed to DEVI under the new BJP government.

Despite having over 7,800 buses on more than 600 routes operated by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and DIMTS, authors of the study — Bhaumik Gowande and Revanthy Pradeep — found that large parts of the city still remain unserved.

The study, which evaluated the level of public transit accessibility by finding out if a neighbourhood has access to public buses within a 500-metre radius, found that 69% of Delhi’s built area is within the 500-metre radius of a public bus stop. A city with good public transit access has 85-90% of its built-up areas within the 500-metre radius.

Municipal wards like Deoli, Jaitpur, Sangam Vihar A, Mustafabad, Ghonda, Sainik Enclave, Hari Nagar Extension and Prem Nagar have zero buildings within a 500-metre walk of a bus stop. “Residents in these areas often need to walk distances higher than average to reach the nearest bus stop, exacerbating first- and last-mile connectivity challenges,” the study noted.

Among wards with almost all of their residential areas within the walking radius are CR Park, Dilshad Garden, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, R K Puram and Mongolpuri.

To identify gaps and plan new routes, ICCT used route data from DTC and DIMTS, last-mile permit records, and satellite imagery. A Geographic Information System (GIS)-based analysis was used to map population density against public transport stops, using a 500-metre buffer as a walkability threshold.

Delhi’s transport planning has largely focused on long-haul trunk routes and Metro corridors. However, 60% of trips in the city are under 4 km, and 80% are under 6 km, according to previous government studies.

One example is Dwarka, where a previous government study found that nearly 18% of Metro users travel within the sub-city itself, suggesting a significant reliance on Metro even for short commutes. The analysis had also revealed that within a 5-km radius, the average trip length in Dwarka is 4.3 km, indicating a substantial demand for short-distance travel.

Thus, the ICCT study argues that without local or intra-zonal connectivity, even residents living close to Metro stations struggle to complete their journeys without relying on autos or private vehicles, leading to congestion.

Delhi ranked 44th for congestion among 387 cities in the 2023 TomTom Traffic Index. The average speed during rush hours was 24 km/h in 2023, with the average time to cover 10 km increasing to 21 minutes and 40 seconds, a slowdown of 30 seconds compared with the previous year, the study notes.