: Not only has the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government failed to improve public transport, but the fleet and efficiency of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has dipped since it took over, the Congress said on Friday.
As Delhi embarked on round two of the odd-even road-rationing scheme, the Congress raised concerns about the city’s public transport being able to take the additional pressure.
“We are not opposed to odd-even. The use of private vehicles should be reduced. But the government has put people under pressure without strengthening public transport,” said Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken.
Citing data from the DTC’s Operations Statistics report, Mr. Maken said the number of DTC buses has gone down from 5,445 in 2012-2013 — the last full financial year the Congress was in power — to 4,461 as of January 31, 2016.
The number of passengers carried per day also fell from 46.77 lakh in 2012-2013 to 43.47 lakh in 2013-2014. In January 2016 it was 43.09 lakh. “The 15-day trial of odd-even was in January so people using DTC buses should have been more, not less. The government has betrayed the people of Delhi,” said Mr. Maken.
The daily earning of the DTC also fell from an average of Rs.3.17 crore in 2012-2013, to Rs. 2.87 crore in 2013-2014 and finally to Rs.2.46 crore in January 2016.
The distance covered by DTC buses, also called route km, started falling in March 2015 — a month after the AAP government came to power — said Mr. Maken.
In February 2015, DTC buses covered 17,105km, which fell by 618.5km in March of that year. From January 2015 to January 2016, the total routes of the DTC fell from 17,105km to 15,034.6km.
“Officials of the DTC always try to reduce the routes to outer areas as they consider it to be less profitable. But, it is the job of the government to ensure that public transport reaches the entire population,” said Mr. Maken, who served as Delhi Transport Minister in Sheila Dikshit’s government.
Most damning, said Mr. Maken, was the reduction in the utilisation of the DTC fleet. In April 2015, 85.29 per cent of the fleet was utilised. But in January 2016, when odd-even was on, it reduced to 67.87 per cent.
Mr. Maken said this was a “record low”. “This is criminal negligence. The government should have ensured 100 per cent fleet utilisation during odd-even. That is the only way to reduce pollution,” he said.
In addition, the DTC’s operations ratio — percentage of trips completed as opposed to those planned — fell to 77.16 per cent in January 2016. It was 81.07 per cent in December 2015.
Party cites DTC report, which shows number of passengers and buses have gone down inthe past three years
