With populations and vehicle ownership exploding, on average, travellers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata spend 1.5 hours more on their daily commutes than their counterparts in other Asian cities during peak traffic times (Unlocking Cities, BCG, April 2018).
India’s transportation sector is at the cusp of a major transformation, thanks to Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). Once limited to ride-hailing apps, the ecosystem has now evolved into an integrated digital platform that brings together cars, public transit, taxis, bike sharing, ride-sharing, and even EV rentals. The result? A mobility experience that is reshaping how urban India moves.
Market Growth at a Glance
The numbers speak for themselves:
- Market Size in 2024: USD 4.7 Billion
- Projected Market Size by 2033: USD 87.7 Billion
- CAGR (2025–2033): 35.6%
That’s an 18X growth in less than a decade, driven by the rising demand for integrated, convenient transport solutions.
While Mobility is fast becoming a lifestyle necessity, yet it simultaneously presents a growing tension for urban commuters today.The growing popularity of services like Ola, Uber – their sharing and premium membership models reveals the consumers’ need to delegate not just the effort of movement, but respond to the consequences of being on-the-move in various ways, with every stray second lost is spent counting lost change. From providing in-car entertainment to access to WiFi to ease connectivity hurdles during travel, short-term travel between work and home has also dynamised as mini-vacations, an evolving zone of transit and social interaction.
MyHQ, a coworking start-up based out of New Delhi has started ‘The myHQ Coworking coach’ that runs as the last coach on Delhi Metro Yellow line. The 50 seater co-working coach comes with free reliable wifi connection, ample plug points, complimentary beverages as well as quick, accessible stationery and printing facilities. There are comfortable laptop-friendly desks created on every coach to allow a seamless work experience. According to the myHQ blog, their main idea was ‘to make the lives of millennial workers much more productive and connected in this globally advanced era.’
(‘Take work-on-the-go to an unimaginable next level with myHQ coworking coach in Delhi Metro. Reserve your seats and enjoy the best of work amenities on your next metro journey.’ – My HQ website
Our contemporary systems of commute have started to evolve very organically to service various lifestyle and societal needs. Take for instance, shared cabs, uber ears, ola play, integration of autos, and even motorcycles – goes to show how the entire ecosystem is living a synergised experience of optimising time, value and space in multiple permutations and combinations. Ride-hailing app Ola has innovated on in-car customer engagement to offer a bouquet of personalized features for both customers and driver partners on Ola Play, its connected car platform available on Ola Prime. Ola Play now greets passengers on boarding, uses their first names and puts on their favourite on-the-go music based on previous data from previous rides. In fact, it can adjust the volume of music if the rider receives a call; making the commute a pleasant experience overall.
Shared and pool cabs may soon become the most vibrant spaces for social spurt. Premium services are accounting for the need for personalisation. One end of the spectrum is sprucing up the commute itself, the other is optimising for wait time and spatial identity. Dating apps are catering to lonely travelers at airports, an app called btrfly offers air travellers the opportunity to connect in real life with like-minded people.
The potential of commute time to bring together an innovative convergence of products, services and cultural codes is tremendous. This space is open for gamification designed to serve all manners of objectives. From incentivising environmentally-friendly behaviour, to promoting social exchange and networking, the next moves would stem from understanding what more can a space of transit stand to offer? Is there a way to integrate security, housekeeping and childcare services, or enhance social cause participation? With the potential of a smartphone, roping in future facing technologies, we may not be too far from visions manifest from Augmented Reality and AI in a hyperconnected framework.
