Examining effects of city’s size and regional context on vehicle ownership levels in the Indian context

Abstract

The growing vehicle population in Indian cities has become a concern for public policy making owing to its far reaching consequences. Most studies among the available literature in the domain of vehicle ownership (aggregate and disaggregate) do not emphasise on city scale attributes. This study seeks to explore cities’ levels of 2-wheeler (2W) and 4-wheeler (4W) ownership across urban India using a large dataset (comprising 2,075 cities) from the Socio – Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011. Using exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression, we explore for significant differences in vehicle ownership levels between cities of different sizes. Apart from confirming the significance of some conventionally well accepted covariates, we determine that a city’s regional context also bears significant influence on its level of vehicle ownership. Findings from this study are likely to contribute towards urbanisation and economic development policies in a country which continues to add more cities and urban population.