As 2025 draws to a close, Bengaluru’s mobility landscape feels like a tale of two cities. One city is swiping through mobility apps to book a seamless trip from auto to Metro in one go; the other is stuck in one of the 7 lakh vehicles sold this year. It has been a year of record-breaking ridership and heartbreaking delays.
The hits: Metro, bus and the digital leap
The biggest ‘hit’ of 2025 was undoubtedly the Yellow Line. Its opening didn’t just connect RV Road to Bommasandra; it pushed Namma Metro into the ‘Million Club’ with daily ridership finally crossing the 10-lakh mark. Parallelly, the humble bus remained the city’s lifeline.
Supported by the Shakti scheme, BMTC recorded nearly 45 lakh daily trips. With a renewed electric fleet, Express buses on NICE Road, Metro feeders, UPI integration, and major staff recruitment after several years, BMTC continues to deliver. BMTC deserves significant financial support in the upcoming budget to better serve lakhs of citizens.
2025 was also the year Bengaluru’s ‘Silicon Valley’ DNA finally coded its way into transport. By adopting GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification), BMTC and BMRCL made their data public. This allowed for a seamless ‘Mobility-as-a-Service’ (MaaS) experience.
Through Namma Yatri, Tummoc and more recently Uber, citizens can now book a Metro ticket and last-mile connection in a single transaction. The Bengaluru Tech Summit set a brilliant example by issuing digital Metro tickets to all delegates. While real-time BMTC data is still awaited, the digital foundation is now solid.
The misses: Private vehicle surge and suburban slump
The most sobering ‘miss’ of the year is a single statistic: 7,00,000. That is the number of new vehicles registered in 2025, nearly 2,000 every single day. This relentless influx neutralizes every gain made by public transport, even as it reaffirms the economic growth Bengaluru brings to the country.
We continue to measure ‘congestion’ through the lens of the car. We forget that for the lakhs on the Metro, there is no congestion. We missed a massive opportunity by failing to restore the Bus Priority Lane on Outer Ring Road. By prioritizing a car carrying one person over a bus carrying 50, we are choosing gridlock by design. The Suburban Rail project remains a disappointment, plagued by missed deadlines and contractor exits. The appointment of a new MD is making 2026 look optimistic.
The debate: Tunnels, planning & road networks
The Tunnel Road project dominated headlines this year, triggering a healthy debate on our mobility vision. Unlike in the past, where such conversations were confined to civil society, we saw ministers, MPs and MLAs chiming in publicly. However, this highlighted a gap: the need for a data-driven approach led by Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority, which is yet to fully flex its statutory muscles.
The year also brought attention to missing road links in IT corridors and the necessity of allowing thoroughfare through mega IT parks. Sarjapur Road finally moved to the mainstream agenda it deserved. There is a growing understanding that our road network, especially in outer areas, is inadequate and requires urgent, planned action.
Technically, the ‘double decker’ flyover on the Yellow Line is a marvel, but philosophically, it is a contradiction. Adding road space directly beneath a Metro line is counter-intuitive; it encourages the very traffic the Metro is meant to reduce. In the absence of a BMLTA-led regional plan, this seems to be becoming a default feature for upcoming lines.
2025 gave us ‘Peak Bengaluru’ moments, when the much-delayed PRR (@Bc_Bengaluru) and undisputed king of memes, Ejipura flyover(@Ejipuraflyover) started giving us official updates on social media. Fingers crossed!
The silver lining: Corporate nudges and pedestrian pride
Hope emerged from the corporate sector. The Electronics City Industrial Association (ELCIA) led the ‘Nudge’ campaign, began pioneering policies that incentivize employees to ditch private cars.
ELCITA’s feeder buses and covered footpaths have already proven that people can switch from cars to Metro if supported by infrastructure and policies.
Perhaps the most heartening story of 2025 wasn’t about wheels, but feet. Between the many walkathons of our self-declared ‘Footpath Mayor’ and the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner’s unannounced city walks, pedestrian rights moved from the fringes to the mainstream. When officials across the five city corporations begin to take pride in safe walking infrastructure, our Garden City will feel like a city for people again.
The year proved that Bengaluru has the technology and appetite for public transport. In 2026, we must find the political will to prioritise people over vehicles.