Kochi, also known as the queen of Arabian Sea is the commercial capital of Kerala. It is one of the fastest growing two-tier metropolitan cities in India. The city has seen a real estate growth of 30 per cent on a yearly basis for the last couple of years and has a GDP growth rate of 8.3 per cent. NH 17, NH 47, NH 49 and National Waterway 3 passes through Kochi. Kochi also has a strategically located Sea Port and an International Airport. With a population of 13.55 lakh, including the Kochi Urban Agglomeration (KUA), the population growth in Kochi Municipal Corporation area is expected to be 10 per cent per decade and growth of population in the remaining areas is expected to be 19 per cent per decade. Kochi city alone accounts for 40 per cent of the urban population in the district. The city has 16 % of roads with less than 3m carriage way while 70 % have single lane or double lane carriage ways of 3.5m to 8.5 m. Only balance 14% has three lanes or four lanes with shoulders. The average speed during peak hours on 66 per cent of the important roads in the city is less than 16 km/hr.

The existing public transport system consists of buses and ferry services operated mainly by private operators. There are about 630 intra-city buses operating on 160 routes originating and terminating at 60 locations scattered all over the city. In addition to the above, there are about 2,300 long-distance private (mofussil) buses and 466 state Government buses, which enter city roads. The KSRTC inter-city bus terminal is located in the heart of the city. There are a total of 466 buses operating from here, out of which 424 belong to KSRTC and 12 each from the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 756 daily trips are undertaken to various destinations. Approximately 40,000 passengers access this bus terminal on a daily basis. The buses contribute about 14 per cent of the vehicular traffic and carry 73 per cent passenger traffic. The share of cars in terms of vehicular trips is about 38 per cent carrying 1 5 per cent of the passengers. Two-wheelers contribute 35 per cent of vehicular traffic and eight per cent of passenger traffic. Auto-rickshaws contribute about 13 per cent of vehicular traffic and four per cent of passenger traffic. Projections are that the peak-hour traffic on the high-density corridors within the city is expected to rise to 25,000 PCUs by 2021. The present chaos is mostly due to the influx of inter city and interstate buses of large numbers. Adding to the woes, 87,000 types of goods are transported in more than 26,000 trips everyday through Kochi. It has resulted in poor air quality index in Cochin in terms of air and noise pollution. The quality of the life in Cochin City is so deteriorated that the conditions look for an urgent change over.