Back in 2010, as students, our daily commute of just 2.5 kilometres from home to school would often turn into a long frustrating ordeal thanks to the unpredictable nature of Guwahati's city bus service. Opting for the public bus over our private vehicles would often prove to be a decision with unintended consequences – marking our late arrival at school and missing the morning assembly. Fast forward to 2024, and the traffic woes persist. Guwahati's city buses still fail to deliver reliability, leaving us stuck in a cycle of inefficiency. It goes without saying that the people of Guwahati deserve a better standard of urban transportation system, particularly a robust bus-based public transportation (BBPT) system.
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Speaking of public transportation, how exactly do we define it? Public transportation is a system of mass transit intended for public services, operating on specific routes, with specific fares and on defined time-tables. While the city bus service in Guwahati has defined routes and fares, the system lacks defined time-tables, and its primary intent leans more towards profit maximization despite its status being a public service. Buses in Guwahati ply on the most profitable routes such as GS Road, RG Baruah Road and GNB Road. This leaves the citizens in other pockets of the city, such as Kharghuli, Barsapara and Hatigarh Chariali, with limited or no access to the service. People residing in these underserved and unserved localities, without decent first and last-mile connectivity choices, either end up travelling long distances to reach their nearest bus stops or use their own vehicles for daily commutes. This has gradually resulted in an increase in the usage of private vehicles in the city. As per figures available on Vahan 4.0, Guwahati has an estimated
13.95 lakh number of registered vehicles till date, mirroring the city’s population. This situation has strained the transportation infrastructure leading to significant gridlocks in major parts of the city.
While the number of vehicles in the city has increased, owning a private vehicle still remains an aspiration and luxury for many. People from all walks of life still rely on bus services or intermediate public transportation (such as auto-rickshaws, metro taxis, and ride-hailing cab services) to fulfil their daily commuting requirements. Therefore, it is imperative to have a robust BBPT system with a network of rationalised routes, distributed across the entire span of the city.
Many would argue that Guwahati may not have enough buses to run in localities with little demand, or if they did, the buses would likely incur financial loss. Let’s take the example of Delhi. Delhi has a fleet of around 5,800 buses for a population of nearly 3.3 crores, translating to a single bus catering to nearly 5,700 people on average. Guwahati, on the other hand, has a fleet of around 800 buses, catering to a population of around 15 lakhs, translating to a single bus for 1,875 people.
Thus, on a general note, it can be said that Guwahati has nearly 3 times the number of buses as Delhi. A 2020 study by Parisar, a Pune-based NGO working in the field of environmental awareness and action, emphasised the requirement of at least 50 buses per lakh population.
Considering this benchmark, Guwahati currently has a fleet of 53 buses per lakh population.
It raises a pertinent question - despite this sufficiency, why are certain parts of Guwahati still underserved by the bus system? The simple reason is that unlike Delhi, where buses are managed by public agencies such as Delhi Transport Corporation or the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System, each bus in Guwahati is an individual private entity seeking to maximize profits by providing services in areas with maximum footfall to attract maximum ridership. When seen from a business
perspective, this scenario seems rational, however, from the lens of community welfare, it falls short. Vast areas of the city are now inadequately served, prompting people in such areas to rely heavily on their own vehicles, exacerbating traffic congestion, and subsequent air pollution, leading to nationwide losses in fuel, productivity, and time - perpetuating a vicious cycle of difficult to overcome.
This crisis can potentially be addressed through effective route rationalisation. Route rationalisation can be defined as the efficient planning of public transit routes that would be responsive to the needs and demands of the citizens. The need for route rationalisation for public transportation is driven by the fundamental principle that all localities and citizens in a city have equitable access to the service and ensuring that public transit remains a convenient, reliable, and viable option for all citizens.
The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) has recently added a large number of buses to its fleet to serve the city. There are plans to further increase the fleet size. Today, apart from the diesel-based buses, Guwahati has a fleet of CNG buses and E-buses. Rather than operating these buses on the already operational routes, it could be very beneficial if these buses served the unattended localities, including the likes of Navagraha, Hatigarh Chariali, Kharghuli etc. The transportation infrastructure of Guwahati needs a strategic overhaul and a rational network of city bus routes, integrating both government-operated buses and private buses into a cohesive network. Government buses should prioritise serving routes deemed less profitable while private buses would have the flexibility to operate across any specified route in the city. This way, all citizens would be ensured equitable access to the system, albeit transport planners need to meticulously plan these routes for maximum efficiency. It is worth noting that the Regional Transport Authority has demarcated multiple routes covering large parts of the city, yet many continue to remain non-operational.
As Guwahati rapidly grows, the need for a robust BBPT network has become increasingly evident to keep a check on congestion and air pollution. The system can be further enhanced through multifaceted efforts like last-mile connectivity, tech integration, commuter info dissemination, and infrastructure investment. Effective allocation of public funds, proactive engagement and data-driven decision-making from governing bodies, and informed advocacy from the citizenry collectively can shape a sustainable urban future for the city—a legacy we earnestly desire to preserve for generations to come.
(Rituraj Sarma is the Head of Studies and Survey and Himangka Kaushik, Head of Programs of Pedal for a Change. All views and opinions expressed in the article are the author's own)
