How to India: Transportation

When in Hyderabad there are a few ways to commute, depending on how far you need to go, how much money you have available and how much you are willing to haggle. In this guide I will attempt to outline and give some basic details for each method so that you can best make your way around beautiful Hyderabad.

Auto-Rickshaw

This is typically the most economical, yet comfortable mode of transport if you are just visiting the area. The easiest way to catch a rickshaw (also known as a tuktuk and auto) is to go to any street and stand in one place for about 30 seconds. You will soon be hailed by a driver who will pull up next to you and then you will tell them where you want to go (usually just the general area of the city and the street number). The driver will then name some outrageous price like 100 rupees ($1.60 USD) you will emphatically state that you want to use the meter, cutting your price in half usually. The typical rate is 9-10 rupees per km with a base rate of 16 rupees (so anything less than 1km will always be 16 rupees, but once you hit that it will start calculating by km). Most of the time they will then roll their eyes and start the meter, but sometimes they will tell you that their meter is broken and you can either try to haggle to get where you are going or else decide to take another rickshaw.

Once you have entered the three wheeled wonder, you can sit back and enjoy the refreshing air as you fly through the streets magically transported by a driver who can skillfully cut through traffic, in and around and seemingly right through other cars, rickshaws, buses, trucks, motor bikes, and pedestrians.  One word of advice, if you care about what your hair looks like once you arrive at your destination, this may not be the best mode of transportation for you. The wind whipping past you will inevitably ruin any sort of hair style that you wanted (unless of course you are a fan of the 80’s mullet) and although you are only in your early 20s, people may mistake you for Mother Theresa. 

Pro Tip:
*Carry lots of small bills, as most drivers will conveniently not have any sort of change and your ride could go from a moderate 70 rupees to a pricey 500 if you don’t plan carefully. If you do find that you are short on small change, you can always drop by a petrol station; the men at the pumps often get paid with small bills and will have plenty on hand to trade out.
*Sunglasses/goggles- there is lots of dust/pollution and you may get some in your eyes.
*GPS- if you have gps enabled on your phone, it can be useful so that you can follow your progress and make sure your driver doesn't just take you on a random ride around the town to charge up the meter.

Taxi

Although a bit more difficult to find a taxi by car, and near impossible to find one with AC and seatbelts, these rare commodities can be obtained—for a price. Most typically if you are travelling from the airport you may be able to find a pre-paid taxi.

Car

I'm not sure where you could rent a car, but if you are so inclined,  you probably could. Things to keep in mind: India drives on the left hand side of the road. Horns are used often, typically as a signal to let you know that someone is behind you and going to pass, this means, do not change into the right hand land, if you can, you can either move to the left or just keep going straight. At every major intersection you will find a traffic control station with helpful warnings, these usually emphasize traffic laws, but you will seldom see the traffic officers inside of the traffic control stations enforcing them. Some signs that you may see:

• Lane driving, safe driving.
• Drink + Drive = Death
• Avoid mobaile (sic) while driving.
• Speed thrills, but kills.
• Alert today, alive tomorrow.
• Obey road sign, pay no fine.
• No mobile phone when mobile.
• Always expect the unexpected.
• Do not jump signal on red.

You may also need to adjust your safety paradigm. Although there are plenty of signs cautioning on the dangers of using your cellphone while driving, drinking and driving, or admonishing you to wear your seatbelts, these are systematically ignored by the general populace and somehow everyone gets along alright. You may even notice your driver texting and calling his friends on the short ride to your destination and yet still skillfully maneuver you within centimeters of other vehicles and seemingly risking your life, only to find that you have come out alive and quickly to your destination.

Bus

Although most foreigners are discouraged from this mode of transport, it can be fairly cheap and get you just about wherever you need to go. One distinct difference between India and other places is that they separate men and women so that all the women get to sit in the front of the bus while the men pile into the back.

Motorbike

Typically these aren't for hire, but if you are thinking of staying for a while and have a small family, these are a great form of transportation. Not only can you squeeze between anything in traffic, you typically fit 3-4 comfortably from front to end. Helmets are also encouraged, but much more optional based on your thrill level. If you do travel temporarily to another city with slightly less traffic (eg. Goa) you may want to rent a scooter for about 250 rupees for the day.

Bicycle

There are plenty of signs put up by the local government encouraging such behavior and you may be a model citizen to do so. However you will not be given any sort of right of way, cars and motorbikes will come as close to you as if you were any other vehicle on the road and you will probably be fortunate if you can get anything that has both wheels, a working chain AND handlebars. 

Walking

Funeral procession.

Sidewalks and crosswalks are far and few between so this may not be the best way to get around unless you either have a very short distance to travel or have an immunity to fear. When crossing traffic make sure to look and know the approximate speed of approaching traffic so that when you walk in front of it you know if you can dart past it quick enough or at least give it time to stop before hitting you full on. If you think that a car is getting close, put your hand out as a visual stop sign so that they know that you don't actually want to be run over-- sometimes it will work. Thankfully, the traffic is usually thick enough that no cars would be going fast enough to do serious damage, but it is still good to try and have some caution.

Side note: yesterday the rickshaw guys were absolutely ridiculous. We were able to get one to class, but after class I guess it was too busy and so people just flat out refused when we told them we wanted to go to Himayat Nagar or tried charging us 200 rupees instead of the regular 60. We told them we would do the meter and they refused, so we ended up walking home. 6km on the streets of Hyderabad is not fun. Also, we used the sidewalks occasionally before some school kid (who was very considerate and told us we were crazy for walking) said that was not wise. I was also convinced against the sidewalks when I stepped in a pile of human feces and saw a man peeing. Although walking in the streets seems riskier with cars passing within centimeters of you, they are probably a smarter decision.

Pro tip from a fellow traveler:
Don't fear the traffic, you'll likely find yourself playing human frogger half the time, but as long as it isn't a bus or truck, if you absolutely need to, don't feel like you can't walk out with your hand out and stop them while crossing," -- Aaron B