In the aftermath of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, India is likely to experience a behavioral change in urban mobility. Due to lasting concerns about transmission and a newfound aptitude for working from home, we must expect an overall reduced demand for transportation and an increased preference for personal modes of transport. Unhindered, there is a high likelihood there would be a permanent modal shift toward automobiles that would spatially and environmentally overload India’s cities and substantively impact India’s quality of life. Consequentially, this would threaten the financial viability of transit operators, especially those already stretched thin before the hit in ridership, and will further tilt the scales away from an optimal urban transportation landscape.
On the other hand, this crisis also presents an opportunity to guide the recovery of urban transport toward long-term development goals. Transport networks in Indian cities, whether public or private, road
