Star buses gain popularity

THE COMFORTABLE and spacious City Link buses have started finding favour with the citizens and are making marked difference in the City transport system ? a scenario evident from the fact that more than 21,000 people are using the bus services daily.

THE COMFORTABLE and spacious City Link buses have started finding favour with the citizens and are making marked difference in the City transport system – a scenario evident from the fact that more than 21,000 people are using the bus services daily.

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Apart from their smart look and comfortable interiors, people, especially women, find travelling in these buses feel safer.

Within three months of introduction, the low floor height star buses have become popular among the residents of the State capital. A new company – Bhopal City Link Limited, floated by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Bhopal Development Authority with the district Collector as the executive director, started these buses from October last year.

The design of star buses provided a panoramic view of the City because of the wide windows. The aisle of these buses has sufficient space for two passengers.

BCLL CEO and SDM Vaid Prakash said that besides the comfort of star buses, good behaviour drivers and conductors have resulted the popularity of these buses. He said that low floor buses are comfortable for senior citizens and physically handicapped while there are separate sitting arrangements for the women.

It is likely that the speed of these buses would take lesser time after the introduction of Rs 500-crore Bus Road Transit System (BRTS).

The Union Government has already approved the first phase of BRTS under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Under the BRTS, special lanes would be constructed for the star buses.