Since 1941, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) has grown from 2 to15 million people, becoming India's financial centre and the seventh largest city in the world. Traffic congestion has also grown. On all but one of these five major arteries, traffic speeds have slowed greatly since 1962.

Source: http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/amenities.transport/speed.html

Realizing they have a large captive ridership, Indian public operators fill their buses to the rafters. India's four largest cities have on average more passengers on a bus than seats. The somewhat smaller cities of Ahmedabad and Pune have slightly fewer passengers than seats, still a high ratio as it includes midnight service at the last stop of a route. Despite this, public operators require huge subsidies, taking much needed cash from state and municipal governments. Only Pune, the smallest of the six cities, breaks even. Subsidies are necessary because services are overstaffed and generally inefficient while fares are deliberately set low, within the reach of all but the poorest city dwellers.

Source: Farokh Umrigar, Prabeer Sikdar, and Sudarshan Kharma. PRTC Education and Research Sertvices LTD, Urban Transport in Developing Countries.

Public transport services in Calcutta were privately run until 1960, when the West Bengali State Government created a public monopoly. Responding to public pressure, the government permitted private companies to run buses just before the 1966 election, with striking results. While public operators require huge subsidies, unsubsidized private operators make a small profit, despite being limited to inferior routes. There are three main reasons for the private sector's relative success. First, maintenance regulations keep a smaller percentage of the public operating fleet on the road and a larger percentage in the garage. Second, fare evasion is estimated at 25% on public buses but is negligible on private buses. Third, the public system has more than 15 employees per bus, versus less than five in the private system. Unsubsidized private operators have been steadily gaining at the public operators' expense, controlling over 60% of the market after less than 20 years of operation.

Source: Farokh Umrigar, Prabeer Sikdar, and Sudarshan Khanna. Urban Transport in Developing Countries: Which Policies for Our Towns?

In India, where only 250,000 cars were sold in 1996, the vast majority of the urban population depends on public transport. Buses account for a majority of all passenger trips, and trains for a quarter. Taxis and rickshaws take a fifth of all passengers, providing employment and relieving the severely overcrowded buses and trains.

Source: Farokh Umrigar, Prabeer Sikdar, and Sudarshan Khanna. PRTC Education and Research Services, Urban Transport in Developing Countries.