More than 11 vehicles were registered every hour in Kolkata in 2024. The Public Vehicles Department (PVD) led with more than 104 vehicle registrations per day. The burgeoning number of vehicles, however, poses significant challenges. Besides straining the city’s existing road network, it highlights the diminishing role of public transport, particularly buses and trams, point out experts. The four regional transport offices (RTOs) collectively documented 1,00,167 new vehicle registrations last year, an 11.7% jump over 2023, transport officials said. The PVD’s yearly revenue also rose 7% over the past year, they added. The RTOs are PVD, Kasba, Salt Lake and Behala, which collectively documented more than 1,000,000 new vehicles in the city last year. The city’s population is estimated to be more than 11 million people, making it the second largest city in India after Chennai, with a population of more than 13 million people.
