Disha is originally from Kerala but has been living in Surat, Gujarat, for the past seven years. She works in an office in Patel Nagar, around seven kilometres from her home. Until recently, she relied on shared auto-rickshaws to get to work. The journey required her to change autos and took nearly an hour each way. Eventually, she taught herself to ride a scooter, cutting down both her commute time and her daily expenses.
Like Disha, Devraj too had little choice but to buy a two-wheeler. He works in a powerloom unit around four kilometres from his home, but with no public transport available, the only options are cycling or motorbikes. His salary barely covers living costs, let alone the purchase of a vehicle. He lives in a Surat Urban Development Authority colony in Gothan, designated for economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income groups (LIG), but transport services do not extend to this area. The city centre is around 10 kilometres away.
Surat, one of India’s fastest-growing industrial cities, has become an economic powerhouse thanks to its booming textile and diamond sectors. But this rapid development has placed immense strain on the city’s transport infrastructure and air quality. These two personal accounts reveal how both urban and peripheral residents are left to depend on private transport for mobility.
According to estimates by the Surat Municipal Corporation, the city’s population was expected to reach 7.5 million in 2024. Public transport in Surat includes city buses and a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). The first 10.3-kilometre corridor of the BRTS was inaugurated in January 2014 and has since expanded to 102 km.
Currently, 166 BRTS buses operate on 12 routes and 575 city buses run on 44 routes. A 15 km High Mobility Corridor also runs along the ring road surrounding the old city, with 24 bus stations and 12 routes.
Until 2004, urban public transport in Surat was run by the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation. Over time, routes increased but the number of buses declined sharply. In May 2007, the Corporation ceased operations and in August the same year, Rainbow Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd took over on a net cost contract, supervised by the Municipal Corporation.
This arrangement lasted until 2017, after which Citylink Ltd, a company under the Surat Municipal Corporation, assumed responsibility for bus services, though actual operations remain contracted out to private firms.
Despite these developments, critical gaps remain. While city buses serve the old city and BRTS covers a few key corridors, many industrial zones and outlying colonies remain unserved.
Sharad Jagade, executive at Ajeevika Bureau, a non-profit working with migrant workers in Surat, said that commuting is a major challenge for the city’s vast working-class population. “Some large firms have provided buses for their workers, but the vast majority employed in small and medium enterprises have no such provision,” he said.
According to the Surat Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) 2046, traffic congestion is the city’s biggest transport-related issue, rated 3.97 on a severity scale. Road safety follows with a score of 3.79, and public transport ranks third at 3.7. Other concerns include poor cycling infrastructure (3.58), parking (3.45), pedestrian facilities (3.37) and the affordability of public transport (3.36).
The CMP highlights that while shared autorickshaws account for 16 per cent of motorised trips, formal public transport makes up just 1.75 per cent. This stark contrast points to limited access and availability of buses, especially in non-central areas.
As a result, private vehicle ownership is surging. According to data from the Vahan portal, nearly three million vehicles were registered in Surat as of June 2025, including 1.97 million two-wheelers. On average, over 30,000 new cars and more than 120,000 motorbikes and scootys are registered annually. This has added significantly to traffic congestion.
The CMP cites household surveys from 2016 which found that 85 per cent of daily trips in Surat are made using private vehicles. As private ownership grows, so does congestion, commute time and pollution. Rutul Joshi, associate professor at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, formerly the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, said that even though shared autos may require multiple changes, their cumulative daily cost often exceeds the fuel expense of a motorcycle. “But the upfront cost of a motorbike is prohibitive for many low-income workers,” he adds.
This was evident during a visit by Down to Earth, which found that powerloom workers typically walk or cycle to work, while those in the diamond trade often ride scooters or bikes. Although metro construction is under way in Surat, Joshi cautions that it will only succeed if integrated with last-mile connectivity through public feeder buses.
In most major Indian cities, diesel auto-rickshaws have been phased out or converted to CNG, but Surat continues to register new diesel autos. In 2025 alone, 802 diesel autos were added. According to the Vahan portal, there are about 110,000 three-wheelers in the city — 57,000 petrol/Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), 25,000 CNG-only, and 30,000 diesel-powered. While most diesel autos are used for goods transport, their environmental impact remains significant.
As per the Surat Clean Air Action Plan, road dust accounts for 55 per cent of particulate matter PM10 levels and 33 per cent of PM2.5 in the air. The transport sector contributes roughly 30 per cent of PM2.5 (4.19 kilotonnes annually) and 12 per cent of PM10 emissions. Seasonal variations exist, with transport’s share in PM2.5 rising to 16 per cent in winter and falling to 6 per cent in summer.
The sector also contributes 62 per cent of Surat’s carbon monoxide emissions and a staggering 85 per cent of nitrogen oxides, largely from old diesel vehicles, trucks, auto-rickshaws and personal two-wheelers.
The city’s annual average PM2.5 level stands at 52 micrograms per cubic metre — more than ten times the WHO’s recommended threshold of 5 micrograms. PM10 levels range between 90 and 100 micrograms, exceeding the 60 micrograms limit. Residents in areas such as Vesu, Mangrol and Varachha say that dust and smog become so dense during winter that it is difficult to breathe.
Under its Clean Air Action Plan, Surat has set targets to reduce PM2.5 by 36 per cent by 2025 and 60 per cent by 2030. Strategies include road cleaning, stricter monitoring of construction sites, deployment of electric buses, vehicle emissions checks and urban greening. But these measures will fall short unless public transport becomes the city’s mobility backbone.
This article is part of our series on how India moves, which looks at the relationship between air quality and human mobility in cities and towns.