D.A.C. Maunder

A Comparison of Cycle Use in Delhi, Jaipur and Hyderabad

Homepage Manual Contents Navigation

INTRODUCTION

In India, as in most countries of the world the cycle is the least expensive personal mechanised travel mode available. However, whereas in most developed countries the cycle tends to have an acillary role to other personal transport modes, in developing countries, the cycle is often the only personal travel mode available. Furthermore it is quite often the only means of travel, other than by foot, because large sections of the population cannot effort public transport fares.

A study instigated by the Central Road Research Institute in 1969 ¹ showed that 28 per cent of all inter zonal trips in Delhi were undertaken by the cycle mode. Since 1969 the percentage share of inter zonal trips by the mode has probably diminished to approximately 20 per cent due mainly to the rapid expansion of Delhi; journey distances have increased so encouraging the use of public transport services mainly supplied by the Delhi Transport Corporation. The cycle mode accounts for a significant percentage of interzonal trips in other Indian cities like Hyderabad and Jaipur. It is clearly an important alternative choice to public transport and cycle owners are unlikely to be part of the very large captive market which public transport enjoys in Indian cities.

As part of the joint research project ²) carried out by the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) and the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) small studies on the role of the cycle in urban transport were carried out in Delhi, Jaipur and Byderabad during 1979. Surveys of cycle users were implemented to determine data on cycle ownership, costs, trip making, socio-economic characteristics and use of other modes.

Table 1 shows population estimates in the three cities for 1979, together with estimates of cycle ownership.

TABLE 1
Population and cycle ownership in Delhi, Jaipur and Hyderabad, 1979 (estimates)

The number of cycles owned and operated have increased substantially in Delhi and ther Indian cities during the last two decades. For example in Delhi the number of cycles increased from approximately 650,000 cycles in 1971 to 850,000 in 1979, an increase of 30 per cent in just 9 years. Dehli has probably the largest cycle fleet of any Indian city followed by Hyderabad with a cycle fleet of 800,000. Based on these estimates the ownership level of cycles in Byderabad is very high with every third person having a cycle.