The Economic Survey 2025-26 released on January 29, 2026, highlights severe productivity losses caused by traffic congestion in Indian cities. It calls for prioritising transport modes with high carrying capacity. The survey cites studies showing unskilled workers lose ₹7,200-₹19,600 yearly and skilled workers up to ₹25,900 due to delays. Bengaluru lost 7.07 lakh productive hours in 2018, costing ₹11.7 billion. Congestion in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata costs an estimated $22 billion annually. The survey criticizes growing reliance on private vehicles, saying roads have become vehicle storage instead of people corridors. It urges boosting public transport and promoting walking, cycling, and shared feeders for safer first and last-mile travel. Demand-based parking and transit-oriented development can free urban space. India now has 1,036 km of Metro and Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) lines in 24 cities. The Delhi–Ghaziabad–Meerut Namo Bharat RRTS corridor cuts travel time below 1 hour, down from 1.5-2 hours by road. This corridor features Transit-Oriented Development with greenfield townships near stations. Construction created 166 lakh mandays (workdays) between 2019 and 2025; operations will provide 12 lakh mandays yearly. Nearly 2,900 km of new Namo Bharat RRTS routes are planned in clusters like Bengaluru–Mysuru and Chennai–Vellore. The survey stresses cities must focus on moving people, not vehicles, to reduce traffic woes and boost productivity.