Mass rapid transit is necessary but not sufficient for sustainable urban mobility. Comment, with reference to last-mile connectivity and integrated transport planning.

India's Metro network has grown from 248 km in 5 cities (2014) to nearly 1,200 km in 26 cities, carrying over 1 crore riders daily [1]. The statement holds largely true. Audit evidence shows that rail capacity makes mobility sustainable only when people can reach stations and when buses and metro are planned as one network.

Why MRT is necessary

• High-capacity corridors: only rail can move peak-hour crowds in dense cities, and shorter commutes raise productivity [1].
• Spatial equity: expansion brings Tier-2 cities like Pune into mass transit, which they would otherwise have waited decades for [1].
• Long-lived asset: Delhi, the oldest large network, is among the few that come close to breakeven [2].

Not sufficient: the last-mile gap

• Ridership shortfall: the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs found every metro except Delhi and Mumbai Line 1 below breakeven ridership [2]. Bengaluru Phase 1 missed its DPR forecast even in 2023 [3].
• Feeders on paper, not on road: Metro Rail Policy 2017 makes feeder plans mandatory [2]. Yet the CAG found Bengaluru's feeder services poorly organised and not reaching inner residential areas [3].

Not sufficient: the integration gap

• Buses lost riders to metro: daily BMTC bus ridership fell from 51.30 lakh (2014-15) to 27.49 lakh (2022-23). Bus and metro riders together were fewer than buses alone once carried, so public transport's share shrank [3].
• Skewed spending: MoHUA puts 36% of its budget into MRTS. India has only 47,650 urban buses, 61% of them in nine megacities, and PM-eBus Sewa's revised allocation was 77% below its budget estimate [4].
• Weak institutions: the 2017 policy requires a CMP and UMTA [5], yet Bengaluru's metro and bus systems remained unintegrated [3].

Way forward

• Link central funding for a city's next phase to a review of its earlier phase's actual ridership against the DPR forecast [2][3].
• Fund buses alongside metro, using PM-eBus Sewa as the feeder layer [4].
• Give UMTAs real power over routes, fares and timetables across modes [5].
• Prefer MetroLite/MetroNeo, at about 25–40% of metro cost, for smaller cities [2].

Metro is the backbone of urban mobility, but a backbone without feeders and buses cannot serve the whole city. The measure of success should move from "kilometres built" to "trips shifted from private vehicles". With working feeders, adequately funded buses and empowered UMTAs, India's next 1,000 km can advance SDG 11.2's goal of accessible, sustainable transport for all.