New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Friday expressed concern that Indian cities have been witnessing an "undesirable shift" from use of public transport to private vehicles and urged all stakeholders to work towards promoting multi-modal transportation system to reverse the trend. Addressing a gathering at an event here to mark 25th foundation day of the DMRC, he also asked Delhi Metro to focus on boosting last-mile connectivity for passengers. "In recent times, our cities have been witnessing an undesirable shift from use of public transport to private vehicles. The average two-wheeler and car ownership levels in metropolitan cities were 112 and 14 per 1000 population in 1994 and are expected to grow to 393 and 48 respectively by 2021," Naidu said.

This would mean 53 million two-wheelers and six million cars in the next 15 years in metropolitan cities, he added. Flagging the hazards of atmospheric pollution and concomitant health concerns, the vice-president urged all stakeholders in the transport sector to work towards promoting use of public transport. "Our cities need to increasingly focus on introducing multi-modal transit systems. Public transport should take precedence over personalised motor transport and every stakeholder should work in that direction," Naidu said. He cited examples of countries such as the Netherlands which has promoted public transport and facilitated use of cycles and other green modes of transport to ease pedestrians.