100 cluster buses with GPS, on-board e-ticketing rolled out

NEW DELHI: To strengthen public transport in the national capital, the Delhi government plans to introduce 3,000 new buses this year, said transport minister Satyendar

NEW DELHI: To strengthen public transport in the national capital, the Delhi government plans to introduce 3,000 new buses this year, said transport minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday.

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Jain made the announcement during the flagging off ceremony of a fleet of 100 new GPS-enabled cluster buses with on-board electronic ticketing facility. With the induction of new buses, the strength of the buses running under the cluster buses scheme has risen to 1,590 buses.

Struggling to contain rising air pollution, Delhi government has lined up a series of initiatives to strengthen and popularise public transport in the city. Delhi has the maximum number of private cars among all metro cities.

In the next phase, Jain said, the government will add 800 buses under the scheme, including 431 air-conditioned (AC) buses. This move will be in sync with the capacity building of new depots.

The newly inducted buses will run in north, east and west Delhi areas on eight additional cluster routes, including Mori Gate Terminal, Kamla Market, Ambedkar Nagar Terminal, Old Delhi Railway Station, Inderpuri JJ Colony, Mayur Vihar Phase-III and Shivaji Stadium Terminal.

Officials said these buses will provide connectivity to well-known hospitals, Metro stations and traffic interchange hubs at ISBTs like Kashmere Gate, Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan.

Apart from cluster bus services, nearly 4,500 buses are run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Delhi Metro also operates around 300 feeder buses on different routes connecting metro stations across the city.

The function was held at Delhi Vidhan Sabha which was presided over by the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Ram Niwas Goel.

“We aim to ramp up the connectivity and frequency of bus services by integrating metro and bus services, to retain the faith of the people in public transport,” said Jain.

“Therefore, trunk bus services—on major routes – and feeder bus services on metro routes will be provided by these buses,” he said.

Besides conforming to the urban bus specifications and safety tests, each bus is fitted with 41 ‘anti-vandalism’ seats and comprises a better seating arrangement to ensure comfort of passengers.

“I congratulate the Delhi government for this endeavour which will make transport easier for the common man,” Goel said.

“The government should be appreciated for undertaking major measures and schemes which are people friendly,” Goel said . The function was also attended by several MLAs, senior officials of the DTC and transport department.