Delhi govt revives plan to rationalise bus routes in the city | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Delhi govt revives plan to rationalise bus routes in the city

Oct 18, 2021 11:41 PM IST

The first phase of the project aims to provide bus service to everyone within 500 metres of walking distance for residents. As part of the plan, the transporter will add electric buses to its fleet and increase frequency of buses on trunk routes

New Delhi: The Delhi government is reviving its plan to rationalise bus routes in the city with the introduction of electric buses on smaller routes and increasing the frequency of buses on major trunk routes, senior officials privy to the development said on Monday.

In 2018, the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited had prepared a fresh report -- “Route rationalisation and last mile connectivity” -- on the direction of the city administration but its implementation was put on hold due to the northeast Delhi riots, assembly elections, and then the Covid-19 pandemic. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)
In 2018, the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited had prepared a fresh report -- “Route rationalisation and last mile connectivity” -- on the direction of the city administration but its implementation was put on hold due to the northeast Delhi riots, assembly elections, and then the Covid-19 pandemic. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

In 2018, the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited had prepared a fresh report -- “Route rationalisation and last mile connectivity” -- on the direction of the city administration but its implementation was put on hold due to the northeast Delhi riots, assembly elections, and then the Covid-19 pandemic.

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“Now, the transport minister (Kailash Gahlot) has directed all officials to take up the matter again and revisit the bus route rationalisation plan of Delhi and include electric buses, as well as non-motorised public vehicles, for last mile connectivity,” said a senior transport official on condition of anonymity.

The first phase of the project aims to provide bus service to everyone within 500 metres of walking distance for residents. As part of the plan, trunk routes -- connecting large towns and mostly running on arterial roads -- will connect all zonal hubs in Delhi with a frequency of 5-10 minutes. The trunk routes will be fed by primary routes at a frequency of 10 to 20 minutes. These in turn will be connected via village connectivity or feeder services, running at a frequency of 20 to 45 minutes.

This will be achieved by increasing the number of buses and reorganising the bus routes, an official said, adding that at present, many routes are obsolete.

Officials said that currently, buses operating on the trunk routes have a frequency ranging from 10 minutes to 1.5 hours. The other routes also see similarly large frequency gaps.

Officials said the three-tier routing pattern will be superimposed by commercial business districts (CBD) circulatory routes to connect the major commercial hubs in Delhi.

Officials said the idea is to optimise the existing bus fleet for better service to customers.

With Delhi planning to induct electric buses, Gahlot has directed officials and stakeholders to include it in the route rationalisation plan.

A total of 300 e-buses are being procured by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), a first in the national capital. Of these 300 e-buses, 200 are to be provided by JBM while the remaining will be manufactured by Tata Motors. Additionally, the Delhi government gave its go-ahead for procurement of another 465 e-buses under the cluster scheme last month.

“The first prototype, of the electric buses the government is bringing to the city, will be pressed into service in a week or two. Initial reports suggest that e-buses run fewer kilometres compared to the existing CNG buses in the city. Therefore, initially, the e-buses will be rolled out on smaller routes. Later, depending on their performance, charging time and feedback from passengers, they will be put on longer routes,” said a second transport official.

Experts said that currently, the frequency of DTC or cluster buses in Delhi is highly unpredictable.

“This is because of the presence of a large number of routes and limited number of buses for these routes. Therefore, some stops may have buses at every five minutes, some at every 30 minutes or more. Therefore, the overall system becomes unreliable. In a trunk and feeder based system, the trunk corridor, which has the maximum number of buses, gets highly reliable service as buses are not stuck in neighbourhood traffic. Thus, the waiting period for the next bus is far lower and the service is much more predictable, leading to a more reliable service,” said Amit Bhatt, executive director at World Resources Institute, India.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Sweta Goswami writes on politics, urban development, transportation, energy and social welfare. Based in Delhi, she tracks government policies and suggests corrections based on public feedback and on-ground implementation through her reports. She has also covered the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since its inception.

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