Noida to develop new bus stops across the city

The Noida authority is set to develop new bus stands at multiple locations across the city to strengthen the public transport infrastructure, officials said on Monday

The Noida authority is set to develop new bus stands at multiple locations across the city to strengthen the public transport infrastructure, officials said on Monday.

The Authority has floated a tender to hire an agency for the work, which is to be completed within six months after the tender is given. (HT Archive)

The authority has floated a tender to hire an agency for the work, which is to be completed within six months after the tender is given, officials added.

Several bus routes in Noida either lack designated stands or have structures that are in a dilapidated condition, making it difficult for commuters to access public transport.

“The contractor will repair or reconstruct components of existing stands and build new ones along bus routes. They will also be responsible for arranging construction materials, equipment and labour, as well as conducting quality tests,” said SP Singh, general manager of Noida authority.

Aaryan Chauhan, a Sector 34 resident, said the lack of designated bus stops made commuters difficult to access bus service. “The bus stands will improve the services and also help increase ridership,” he said.

In 2016, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) launched feeder bus services on 11 routes connecting Noida, Greater Noida and Greater Noida West. The services were suspended following the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020 and formally discontinued in December that year, possibly due to low ridership which is believed to have contributed to NMRC’s losses, authority officials explained.

In June this year, the state government launched electric bus services in Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna area. A total of 100 electric buses have been flagged off so far.

Separately, the authority has floated another tender to hire an agency to maintain the bus depot in Sector 90, which has a charging station and houses the electric bus fleet. The agency will provide staff, tools and equipment for cleaning and maintaining the depot. The facility previously housed an NMRC-operated city bus service.