Gurugaman gets a thumbs-up, more buses needed in old city

Out of the 25 buses allocated for the route, 23 buses will be deployed on weekdays and 18 buses on weekends and two buses will always be kept on standby for emergencies.

On Monday morning, a day after the Gurugaman bus service was launched, the city witnessed an increase in the number of passengers using the service and a higher frequency of buses plying the roads, .

The bus shelters, especially in crowded areas such as Huda City Centre (above) and Iffco Chowk, saw people lining up to use the newly launched service. (PARVEEN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

The bus queue shelters, especially in crowded areas, such as Huda City Centre and Iffco Chowk, which serve as transit stations for commuters, saw people lining up to take the buses.

The service was launched on Sunday, almost two years after it was announced in 2016.

Madhav Haldar, who had arrived at Iffco Chowk from Manesar in a shared autorickshaw, said he was planning to use the city bus to reach Hero Honda Chowk. “Earlier, I would have ended up hailing another shared autorickshaw from IffcoChowk but the bus would be easier on my pocket,” Haldar said.

V Umashankar, the CEO of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA)—the regulatory body overseeing the operations of the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Ltd (GMCBL)—said that only 18 buses were made operational on Monday a public holiday on account of Janmashtami.

So far, the service is operational only on Route 212, which runs in a circle from Basai Chowk to Huda City Centre and back, covering 25.1km. The up route will have 51 stops, while the down route will have 44 stops.

Of the total 25 buses launched and allocated to this route, GMDA had said on Sunday, 23 buses will be deployed on weekdays and 18 buses on weekends.

Two buses will always be kept on standby for emergencies, GMDA officials had maintained.

The frequency of the buses, too, improved on Monday, with them plying at an interval of 20 minutes, down from 30 minutes the previous day.

A spot visit by Hindustan Times confirmed that the buses were, at certain locations, running at intervals of 15 minutes, which is three minutes less than the intended frequency of 18 minutes during non-peak hours. “The real test of the bus service will be on Tuesday, when people return to work after the extended weekend,” GMDA transport adviser Sunil Jain said.

The bus service slowed down in the afternoon as the city witnessed light rain, a GMCBL official confirmed via the toll-free helpline. “We are on guard about rains and waterlogging and the traffic police will support us in case of any problem. No issues have been reported as yet,” the official said. The helpline was unresponsive on Sunday.

In Old Gurugram, however, the service was found to be more infrequent, with buses running at intervals of 25 minutes. “This might be due to the constraints of operating the service in an area with poor road network, as is the case in Old Gurugram,” said Sanjay Gupta, head of the transport planning department at New Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture.

Gupta is heading a six-moth-long survey to assess city’s mobility problems, the result of which are expected to be released by December in a Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the city.

Gupta said roads in old Gurugram do not have the same carrying capacity as in the newer parts. “Coupled with poor road conditions and unfavourable weather, it is likely that movement of buses would slow down. The best time to gauge the efficiency of the service would be when the weather conditions improve,” he said.