The conference presented findings from Role of Markets in Indian Road Transport System, a national-level study by CPPR examining the policies, regulations, and institutions shaping India’s bus transport system and the outcomes for operational efficiency, ridership, and market access. The study spans city-level analysis in five cities (Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Surat, and Hubballi-Dharwad) and state-level analysis in three states (Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu). Demand estimation is one of the study’s major workstreams, and this component formed the substance of the conference, where CPPR presented comparative demand-estimation findings for all five cities. The five cities covered by the study (Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Surat, and Hubballi-Dharwad) were selected against a common set of criteria. All five are Tier 2 cities, chosen because buses are the dominant mode of public transport in each, rather than one option among several as in India’s larger metros with metro or suburban rail networks.

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