What India's 2-wheeler boom means for its urban mobility

India is currently grappling with a dramatic increase in the number of two-wheelers—an oft overlooked element of the road.

- Manoj Sharma

NEW DELHI: India is currently grappling with a dramatic increase in the number of two-wheelers —an oft overlooked element of the road. Over the past two decades, the number of four-wheelers on the country's roads has seen a marked rise, which is often blamed for the massive snarls that almost all Indian cities now grapple with. However, two-wheelers have flooded the streets at an unprecedented rate, and while this boom has ensured the security of mobility to millions, it has exacerbated urban challenges—from traffic gridlocks and rising emissions, to road safety.

In 2024, Delhi alone added 448,767 two-wheelers, pushing the total number of motorcycles and scooters on the streets of the Capital past 5.7 million, from 5.2 million in 2023, according to official figures.

To be sure, these are just the vehicles registered in the city: Delhi does have hundreds of thousands of two-wheelers registered in neighboring states. Similarly, Mumbai now has nearly 2.9 million two-wheelers on its roads—up from 1.9 million in 2017. However, the Indian city with the most two-wheelers is arguably Bengaluru, which as on September 30, 2024 had a staggering 7.5 million such vehicles on its streets, up from 6.9 million in 2022.

Public transport failure Experts attribute this sudden rise in two-wheeler ownership to poor public transport in Indian cities: over the years, motorcycles and scooters have become the preferred choice for the lower-middle class due to their fuel efficiency, even as they're priced out from traveling on Metro trains due to relatively high fares, while buses are often unreliable.