India, May 19 -- As the Delhi government urges residents to shift towards public transport as part of its fuel conservation and austerity push, commuters across the city say overcrowded metro coaches, infrequent buses, unsafe and unreliable last-mile connectivity, and poor pedestrian infrastructure continue to make daily travel exhausting and inconvenient.

In a push to public transport use under the "Monday Metro" campaign, chief minister Rekha Gupta and cabinet ministers also used public transport to commute on Monday.

For 25-year-old Sonu Choudhary, the cooling zone near Gate No 3 of the Delhi Metro station at Jama Masjid offered temporary relief on Monday while he waited nearly an hour for a DTC bus to Pul Prahladpur near Badarpur. ...