Sustainable Urban Transport in India

The document argues that the auto-rickshaw sector can support sustainable urban transport in India by providing first-and-last-mile connectivity and door-to-door alternatives to private vehicles. To achieve this, it recommends shifting from two-stroke to four-stroke engines to reduce PM10 emissions, implementing separate emission standards for HC and NOx, and improving vehicle design and road infrastructure to enhance occupant safety.

• Auto-rickshaws can support the 'Shift' strategy of sustainable transport by acting as a feeder mode for first and last mile connectivity to public transport and providing a door-to-door alternative to private motor vehicles for specific needs like airport or emergency health care trips.
• To reduce PM10, hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the sector should transition from two-stroke to four-stroke engines, which can further reduce PM10 if powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) or other gasoline alternatives.
• Current emission standards should be reformed to adopt separate standards for HC and NOx emissions rather than the existing combined (HC + NOx) standard to address higher NOx emissions from four-stroke engines.
• While auto-rickshaws cause fewer fatal pedestrian accidents than cars or motorized two-wheelers due to lower speeds and weights, occupant safety in multivehicle collisions is a concern that requires vehicle design improvements (such as seat belts and padding) and infrastructure interventions (such as dedicated lanes and speed tables).
• The lack of organization in the sector, where most services are provided by individual owner-operators, hinders the availability of dispatch (dial-a-rickshaw) services, necessitating regulatory reforms to allow fleet-based operations.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Sustainable Urban Transport in India. https://www.wri.org/research/sustainable-urban-transport-india

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Sustainable Urban Transport in India. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/sustainable-urban-transport-india.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Sustainable Urban Transport in India |url=https://www.wri.org/research/sustainable-urban-transport-india |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendsustainable, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Sustainable Urban Transport in India}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/sustainable-urban-transport-india}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }