Link between population and number of vehicles - Evidence from Indian cities

We show using data from Indian cities that the number of vehicles in cities could increase along an S-shaped pattern with population. Such a pattern o f growth can lead to a number of problems as (1) India has several small bu t growing towns that will witness a rapid growth in the number of vehicles as they grow, and (2) the vehicular increase in India has so far been domin ated by personalised modes that are not energy-efficient and environmentall y benign. The implications of such growth and some strategies for overcomin g the problems are briefly discussed in this paper. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.