Crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded buses, unreliable metro coverage and poor pedestrian safety are collectively pushing Hyderabad towards a full-blown urban mobility crisis, according to transport experts and daily commuters.
Despite a growing population, the city’s design continues to favour cars over people, making walking, cycling, and public transport increasingly impractical. For residents like K Nagarjuna, who travels from Almasguda Kaman to Tarnaka, public transport is neither affordable nor efficient. “A one-way TSRTC bus trip costs me ₹160. The metro is unreliable and last-mile connectivity is poor. It’s just cheaper and easier to use a bike,” he said. While schemes like Mahalakshmi—offering free bus rides for women—have boosted occupancy, they have not addressed core structural issues. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) fleet size has fallen from 3,811 in 2014–15 to just 3,042 in 2024–25. Bus occupancy, however, has surged to 104%, leading to severe overcrowding. Cyclists and pedestrians face a different set of challenges. Hyderabad has just 3,000 buses compared to Bengaluru’s 10,000, despite similar populations. Santhana Selvan, the city’s Bicycle Mayor, says footpaths and bike lanes are virtually non-existent. “Active mobility cannot thrive without integrated planning. Bicycle parking, well-maintained footpaths, and public bike-sharing are missing,” he said.
Transport scholars say poor planning is to blame. “The Outer Ring Road has fuelled real estate, not decongestion,” said Prof KM Laxman Rao of JNTU. He advocates for ‘fractal cities’ where essential services are walkable, and AI-based tools to manage traffic. He noted that private vehicles now contribute to 48.5% of daily travel, causing slow-moving traffic and a loss of ₹5,000 crore annually due to congestion. Urban geographer Anant Maringanti warned that flyovers and ring roads alone won’t solve congestion. “Congestion is shaped by access to services, not just traffic flow,” he said, adding that Metro land allocation for commercial use has worsened gridlock. Meanwhile, the MMTS railway system remains underutilised despite being more cost-effective than the Metro. C Ramachandraiah, former faculty at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, said MMTS expansion was ignored in favour of the metro, which failed to meet ridership projections. Environmental experts raise concerns about rising air pollution, largely driven by vehicular emissions. Though the Telangana Pollution Control Board claims cleaner fuels and more EVs have helped, critics question the validity of such data, citing changes in monitoring standards.
Hyderabad police report improved traffic speeds compared to other metros, but the average remains at just 23 km/h. Enforcement campaigns and ITMS adoption are ongoing, but experts argue that fundamental shifts in policy are needed. With outdated master plans and fragmented transit systems, Hyderabad risks further alienating its citizens unless integrated, people-first mobility solutions are urgently prioritised.
