Metered taxis are a feature of only the major metros like Calcutta and Mumbai. To some extent this facility is available in Delhi and Chennai. Often, riding in them can be a harrowing experience, if the fare has not been settled, before the journey began. But, by and large this is a regularly used mode of transport in these cities. Taxis can also be booked from hotels but they are more expensive

Travel by the local buses is an experience by itself. Often crowded, a bus journey even within a place could be an interesting experience. Big towns have local bus services that is regular, but smaller places could leave one waiting for long hours. One certainly needs to know the routes in places like Delhi, which has a mammoth bus network called the DTC. Travelling in DTC buses could include a bit of jostling and an isolated pinch for the woman traveller when it is the peak hour. Pickpockets are to be watched out for in Calcutta and Mumbai. By far a very cheap and effective way to get around, buses are useful, provided one knows where exactly to go as well as the bus that goes there. Punctuality is, however, not their hallmark

Calcutta is the only place that prides itself of electrically operated systems of transport. The Calcutta Tramways Company was incorporated in England in the late nineteenth century and is therefore the elder cousin of the Metro which came up in the eighties. Both these are very cheap and are immensely used to get around within the city.

Local electric trains are the mainstay of the transport system of longitudinally laid Mumbai. The network runs with clockwork precision, but travel during peak hours could be very trying and tough. Chennai too has a similar network and so has Calcutta, both catering to sub-urban traffic.In Calcutta,the Sealdah railway station which caters mostly to local train traffic is equipped to handle over 3 million passengers a day.

Though the hand pulled rickshaw is being phased out in parts, Calcutta remains the last bastion of this seemingly demeaning man-driving-slave type of human transport system.There have been buyers from the Netherlands, for this eco-friendly mode of transport in the last few years. The other indigenous modes of transport are the horse-carriages of various kinds found all over the country. In the North they are known as Buggies or Tongas. In Mumbai, as also in Calcutta, one still finds the Victorian horse carriage which may be used by tourists for joy rides or even commutting short distances.

Three-wheelers are the most popular mode of transport in almost all parts of urban India.They are metered, though an outsider may have to argue a little before settling the fare. It is essential for one to know the actual fare, before the bargaining begins. Chennai is specially unfriendly on this count. Most of the drivers, here congregate to confuse the tourist by aggressive talk in their native Tamil and are often discourteous. To avoid trouble there, have your hotel arrange for a driver, who agrees to charge you according to the metre or else ensure that you possess a map of the city, to make sure that he takes you by the right route only. The police always help, so in case the need arises do not hesitate to approach them.