Demand for 300 smart buses in city?

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The rapid urbanisation and growing population of the city prompted the Smart City Development Corporation Limited to undertake a survey to revamp the public transport facilities. The survey revealed that there is a need for 300 buses in the city if the bus is available on a gap of every 5-7 minutes at each bus stop, like in Mumbai and Pune cities.

The Smart City Office is operating the bus service in the city since January 23, 2018. A total of Rs 36 crore was spent on the purchase of 100 buses. Today, 90 buses ply on different routes, while 10 buses are kept in reserve.

In the meantime, considering the demand of passengers, the Smart Buses are plying on routes like Waluj, Bajajnagar, Satara-Deolai, Itkheda, Kanchanwadi, Karmad, Palshi, Pisadevi, Chauka and Phulambri. The response from passengers is also good. These buses travel a distance of 22,000 kilometres in 1,000 trips daily.

As of today, 25,000 passengers are enjoying the Smart Bus service daily and it years a revenue between Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 7 lakh. However, the network of bus services inside the city is absent. Hence, the Smart City (Bus Division) undertook the survey. It is learnt that presently, the passengers had to wait for at least half an hour at the bus stop. If the bus is available on time then the citizens prefer boarding the bus or else he/she search for alternate or private transport to reach their destination. According to sources, if the bus is made available every five minutes, then 300 buses will be needed in the city.

It may be noted that the bus service in the city is available till 12 midnight, while the bus service is available for 24 hours on the ring route from Railway Station to Railway Station.

900 bus stops

The Smart City has 100 buses and there will be an addition of 35 e-buses in its fleet. A total of 15 e-buses will be arriving in the city next month. Presently, there are 900 bus stops in the city, out of which, 150 are main stops, said the sources.