Why Shuttle Services Are Getting Punctured

The urban shuttle dream risks remaining just a promise in India's metros. Here's why.

- Sakshi Sadashiv

NEW DELHI

Rahul Desai, 31, didn't mind the distance—until he really started feeling it. The finance executive had moved to Ulwe, a fast-growing residential pocket in Navi Mumbai, two years ago, making what felt like a rational trade: space for time. After years of living in a one-bedroom matchbox in south Mumbai, the idea of a larger, sunlit home with a balcony was too tempting to pass up. But going to work and back would mean traveling 90 km every day.

On paper, it was a 60- to 90-minute commute, door to door, thanks to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as Atal Setu. The bridge, which is 21.8 km long (much of it is over the Arabian Sea), links Sewri in south Mumbai to Chirle near Nhava Sheva, a short ride from Ulwe. Before it was built, the same commute would have taken well over two hours.

Every morning, Desai and many of his neighbours—mostly young professionals working in Fort, Nariman Point, and Lower Parel—would board Uber Shuttle buses that snaked through Navi Mumbai, picking up white-collar commuters from Ulwe, Panvel, Kharghar, and Thane. It was an air-conditioned, punctual, and peaceful commute.

“There's no direct train. No proper bus. No AC coaches on the Harbour line (suburban rail),” Desai explained. “You either take an auto to Nerul or Seawoods and change two more modes, or you sit in a car for two hours. The shuttle solved all that.”

Uber Shuttle had launched in Mumbai in September 2021 with a bold promise: to cut through traffic, reduce the hassle of parking, and help commuters give up their private vehicles.

According to Desai, multiple Uber Shuttle buses ran daily from Navi Mumbai to south Mumbai. Many commuters were women who found local trains overcrowded and unsafe, while other passengers owned cars but chose the shuttles to save on fuel expenses and for the convenience.