‘Capital has 556 motor vehicles for every 1000 people’

NEWDELHI: While the ridership in the city’s buses has seen a decline, Delhi now has 556 vehicles for every 1000 residents.

According to the state economic survey, Delhi is “a hub for personal motorised vehicles” in India with a total vehicular population of 103.83 lakh.

Meanwhile, the “other passenger vehicle” category saw a growth of 838.43 % during 2016-17 which is the highest ever growth. However, the massive spike in this category could largely be attributed to the rise in the number of e-rickshaws in the city the past year.

Taxies in Delhi have also seen an exponential increase with a growth rate of 30% during 2016-17.

The average daily passengers carried by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) in its buses, on the other hand, has fallen to 32 lakh in 2016-17 from 47 lakh in 2012-13. But, the buses under the cluster scheme are performing better with a fleet utilisation of 98% in 2016-17 against DTC’s 85% during the same period.

The total operational span of the Delhi Metro network will expand to over 350 km after completion of its Phase-III project, which would also enhance the daily average ridership of the mass rapid transit system to nearly 40 lakh, the survey stated.

The estimated cost of Phase-III is ₹39,784.56 crore. With the opening of the Pink Line’s Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus corridor last week, the current operational length stands at over 252 km.