Local public transportation was not common except in the Kathmandu Valley. A trolley bus serviced the eastern part of the valley between Kathmandu and Bhadgaon (or Bhaktapur), carrying about 500,000 passengers annually during the late 1980s. Sajha (Cooperative Union) buses provided passenger service in Kathmandu and to other locations in the eastern and western parts of the country.

There was discussion in Kathmandu of developing a water transportation system to utilize the rivers passing through Nepal. The combined length of rivers was about 3,500 kilometers (see The River System , ch. 2). The government pursued feasibility studies with the help of consultants, mostly foreign however, studies conducted as of 1991 were not encouraging.

Data as of September 1991