E-Paper
CTU buses to ply on 54 new routes starting next week
In the first phase, CTU is expected to start bus service from depot number 1 and 3; routes will be started from depot number 2 and 4 in the second phase
: The UT administration is preparing to launch Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) buses on 54 routes from next week. In addition, buses will also be restarted on routes that have remained closed for 12 years.
UT administrator Banwari Lal Purohit will flag off the buses on the new routes. The older ones, on which the department is preparing to start buses, include the routes of Palampur, Gurdaspur, Dera Baba Nanak, Tanakpur and Rishikesh.
Apart from this, bus service is also being started for two religious places in Rajasthan, with special fleets running for Khatu Shyamji of Sikar and Salasar of Churu.
Approval for the new routes has been received from the UT administrator. In the first phase, the CTU is expected to start bus service from depot number 1 and 3. New routes will also be started soon for depot number 2 and 4, covering all local routes.
For the improvement of the transport system in the city, a survey was conducted by the UT’s transport department and conducted by Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University, highlighting many shortcomings of the transport system. The report suggested the department should focus on all routes.
Speaking about the same, a UT official said, “Under it, the department is trying to start this bus service on long and local routes. The report suggested motivating people to use public transport. According to which, public transport is mainly focused on ISBT-43, ISBT-17 and PGI.”
“We are also rationalising the routes within the city in addition to improving the connectivity to other states through CTU buses,” the official added.
The report had also highlighted the poor connectivity within the city, saying only 11% of the population regularly used the bus service and nearly 80% of the CTU buses, on average, run vacant. It stated, “The load factor (bus seat capacity being occupied) of the service is around 22%, which is much lower than the desired range of 65% to 75%.”
