Transport in West Bengal
Road network, vehicle registrations, public transport usage, and road safety in West Bengal.
Road connectivity in West Bengal is broad — over 300,000 kilometres across highways, district, and village roads — and village roads carry most of the actual movement. Two-wheelers dominate vehicle registrations; EVs are tiny but growing vertically. Road fatalities are slowly declining, but the injury count remains high. This page traces where people and goods actually move.
Key figures & data tables
West Bengal has 1,02,348 km of road — 3,635 km of national highways, 3,788 km of state highways, 7,845 km of major district roads, 12,560 km of other district roads, 74,520 km of village roads. Road density is 1.15 km per sq km against 1.84 for India.
Registered vehicles reached 1.33 crore in 2024, up from 0.90 crore in 2018. Two-wheelers dominate at 56% of the fleet; cars are 18%. Vehicle ownership is 131 per 1,000 people against 272 nationally — less than half the national rate. Electric vehicles are 4.2% of new registrations, ranking the state #7 in India.
Public transport carries about 1.39 crore passenger trips a day across state and private buses, the Kolkata Metro, trams, ferries and autos. Road safety is a relative strength: 5,340 deaths in 2023, a fatality rate of 5.3 per 100,000 people against 11.5 for India.
The rows behind the charts above — 5 tables
›Road network in West Bengal by category(5 rows)
Source: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; WB PWD.
| Road type | Length | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| National Highways | 3,635 | km |
| State Highways | 3,788 | km |
| Major District Roads | 7,845 | km |
| Other District Roads | 12,560 | km |
| Village Roads | 74,520 | km |
›Registered vehicles in West Bengal by year and type(7 rows)
Source: VAHAN / MoRTH Road Transport Year Book.
| Year | Total | Two-wheeler | Car | Commercial | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,018 | 89,56,000 | 48,90,000 | 15,67,000 | 12,34,000 | 1,200 |
| 2,019 | 96,78,000 | 53,20,000 | 16,90,000 | 12,98,000 | 3,500 |
| 2,020 | 99,80,000 | 54,80,000 | 17,50,000 | 13,10,000 | 6,800 |
| 2,021 | 1,05,60,000 | 58,20,000 | 18,90,000 | 13,50,000 | 15,200 |
| 2,022 | 1,14,20,000 | 63,10,000 | 20,50,000 | 14,10,000 | 32,400 |
| 2,023 | 1,23,50,000 | 68,50,000 | 22,30,000 | 14,80,000 | 58,000 |
| 2,024 | 1,32,80,000 | 73,80,000 | 24,20,000 | 15,40,000 | 95,000 |
›Public transport in West Bengal — fleet and daily ridership(6 rows)
| Mode | Fleet | Daily ridership |
|---|---|---|
| State Bus (SBSTC/NBSTC) | 3,200 | 12,00,000 |
| Private Bus | 28,000 | 85,00,000 |
| Kolkata Metro | 54 | 6,50,000 |
| Kolkata Tram | 25 | 15,000 |
| Ferry Services | 85 | 45,000 |
| Auto Rickshaw | 1,25,000 | 35,00,000 |
›Road accidents in West Bengal by year(6 rows)
Source: MoRTH Road Accidents in India.
| Year | Accidents | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,018 | 12,456 | 5,234 | 10,890 |
| 2,019 | 11,890 | 5,012 | 10,230 |
| 2,020 | 8,920 | 4,156 | 7,450 |
| 2,021 | 10,230 | 4,678 | 8,900 |
| 2,022 | 11,450 | 5,120 | 10,120 |
| 2,023 | 11,890 | 5,340 | 10,560 |
›West Bengal vs India — transport indicators(3 rows)
| Metric | West Bengal | India | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road density | 1.15 | 1.84 | km per sq km |
| Vehicles per 1,000 people | 131 | 272 | vehicles |
| Road fatality rate | 5.3 | 11.5 | per 100K population |