From routes to reliability: Inside the tech-led reinvention of the urban commute in 2026

As Indian cities grow denser and workdays grow more complex, the daily commute is no longer just about getting from point A to point B.

“The commute is becoming a product in itself — one where predictability, comfort, and reliability matter as much as speed,” says Ankit Agrawal, Co-founder & CTO, Cityflo. In 2025, technology-led mobility platforms began redefining what commuters expect from intra-city travel — predictability over price, comfort over chaos, and reliability as a core product.

For Cityflo, this shift marks a decisive transition: from operating fixed bus routes to orchestrating a demand-responsive, data-driven mobility network. Speaking in a year-ender conversation, Ankit Agrawal, Co-founder & CTO, Cityflo, explains how technology, data, and AI are shaping the future of urban commuting in 2026 and beyond.

The rise of the predictable commute

Technology is steadily moving intra-city commuting away from rigid schedules toward dynamic, real-time experiences. Features such as live tracking, predictive ETAs, and in-ride safety tools are giving commuters greater control and confidence over their daily journeys.

On the operations side, this digital layer enables Cityflo to run buses as high-capacity smart vehicles within a connected network. Demand-based routing ensures better fleet utilisation while maintaining consistent on-time performance. As generative AI becomes embedded deeper into Cityflo’s systems, customer support is also evolving — with the goal of resolving most queries in seconds rather than minutes.

Digital innovations that changed reliability and routing

The biggest technology gains this year came from predictive intelligence and backend efficiency. Cityflo invested heavily in precision routing and optimisation to better understand demand patterns and design routes that consistently improve journey times. At the same time, significant effort went into strengthening backend system integration, creating high-performance platforms for faster client onboarding, fleet management, and operational response. Bringing real-time traffic data, commuter demand signals, and driver behaviour into a unified technology stack has made the system far more adaptive and resilient. Together, these changes have pushed reliability from an aspiration to a measurable outcome.

“Reliability isn’t accidental. It’s engineered through data, systems, and continuous optimisation,” Agrawal explains.

GenAI as an operational co-pilot

Cityflo sees generative AI not as a futuristic add-on, but as a practical co-pilot for everyday operations. In customer engagement, GenAI enables hyper-contextual, real-time assistance across channels, significantly reducing resolution times and improving satisfaction. On the operations side, it helps summarise complex inputs such as field incidents, route disruptions, and fleet telemetry in near real time, allowing teams to act faster and with greater clarity. This shift is helping teams move from reactive firefighting to proactive optimisation.

“We see GenAI as a co-pilot for our teams — helping them move faster, make better decisions, and stay ahead of disruptions,” says Agrawal.

Why commuters are choosing premium shared mobility

Commuter preferences are clearly evolving. Cost alone is no longer the deciding factor; time-certainty and journey quality now matter more.

Several trends are driving this change. Urban professionals are increasingly looking to reclaim time and productivity, preferring stress-free commutes that can double as personal or work time. Expectations around comfort and safety have also risen sharply, with cleanliness, personal space, and predictable service becoming baseline requirements. At the same time, commuters are recognising the hidden costs of unpredictable travel — lost time, fatigue, fuel expenses, and stress — and are gravitating toward premium shared mobility that bridges the gap between private cabs and crowded public transport. Sustainability further strengthens this shift, as many are willing to adopt greener options if the experience matches or exceeds their current mode of travel.

“People are willing to choose shared and sustainable mobility — but only if the experience is better than what they’re used to,” Agrawal notes.

Hybrid work and the need for flexibility

While hybrid work has not drastically altered peak-hour demand or route structures, it has influenced how commuters buy mobility. Cityflo has responded by diversifying its offerings with flexible ride packs, delivering predictability without forcing daily commitments — a model well-suited to evolving work patterns.

EV fleets: The next phase of urban mobility

Electric vehicles will play a critical role in the future of city transport, but Cityflo believes the transition must happen in stages. The first and most impactful step is moving commuters from private cars and cabs to high-capacity buses. Once that shift is achieved, electrifying the fleet becomes the final — and more achievable — leap.

“If we can move people from cars and cabs to buses, we’ve already solved most of the problem. Electrification is the final mile of that journey,” says Agrawal.

However, scaling EV fleets still faces structural challenges. Charging infrastructure must mature rapidly, with reliable and dense networks at depots and key operational corridors to support large-scale operations. In parallel, stronger policy support and subsidy parity are needed to help private mobility players manage the upfront capital and operational costs required for widespread electric bus deployment.

Using data to become a city partner

Data is what allows mobility platforms to evolve beyond transportation providers. Cityflo uses data-driven planning to reduce dead kilometres through smart vehicle repositioning and efficient trip design. At a city level, insights into high-density corridors enable shared mobility to replace hundreds of private car trips — directly easing congestion and improving urban flow.

Reliability as a product

In 2026, Cityflo defines reliability not as a feature, but as its core product. ‘Service Reliability as a Product’ means engineering predictability into every stage of the journey — from planning to execution. Success is measured not by vehicle availability alone, but by guaranteed on-time arrival, every single day.

“In 2026, reliability isn’t a feature for us — it’s the product,” Agrawal emphasises.

The new economics of commuting

Daily commuting economics are shifting toward a simple but powerful metric: Value Per Minute. For consumers, predictable travel translates into fewer lost hours and better overall returns compared to driving or relying on expensive cabs. For corporates, rigid employee transport models are giving way to flexible approaches such as pay-per-seat arrangements and mixed fleet strategies. Predictable shared mobility reduces late arrivals, parking costs, and employee fatigue, making it a compelling decision from both financial and human capital perspectives.

Technology bets for 2026 and beyond

Cityflo’s next phase of growth is anchored in building an intelligent, self-optimising mobility network. This includes deploying AI-driven systems for daily operations, scheduling, and demand prediction, cutting optimisation cycles from hours to minutes. The company is also investing in deeper visibility for partners and enterprise clients through advanced dashboards and analytics that highlight usage patterns and cost savings. In parallel, Cityflo is digitising traditionally offline depot and fleet management processes, bringing them online for better reporting, control, and scalability.

As cities grapple with congestion, sustainability goals, and workforce expectations, technology-led shared mobility is emerging as a powerful solution. For Cityflo, the future of commuting is not just smarter routes or cleaner buses — it is about delivering a reliably better day, every day.