People, especially the student community, have welcomed the launch of the low-floor government city buses here on Wednesday and have lots of expectations from this service. These buses will start plying here from Thursday.
Supriya, a student of Government Pre-University College, said that the low-floor government buses would be especially helpful for women and persons with disabilities as they faced a lot of difficulty in climbing the present high-floor city buses.
“Students can avail of bus pass facility. College students will have to pay just Rs. 3 per day, while high school students (girls) will have to pay Rs. 2 per day to travel in the government city buses. The rich students travel in school buses, but the government city buses will definitely help the poor students,” she said.
Amrita Acharya, a student of Dr. G. Shankar Government First Grade College, said that since the doors of the low-floor government buses close automatically, there will be question of hanging of students or others hanging out from the footboard. This would prevent accidents.
“It is essential that there is more service of the government city buses during peak hours in the mornings and evenings so that college students do not have to jostle to get into it. These buses should go to areas not having bus connectivity so that students there too can get its benefits,” she said.
Lakshmi Bai, Project Coordinator at Bharatiya Vikas Trust, a NGO, and retired principal, said that the biggest advantage of these buses was that women and senior citizens would find it easier to climb to and alight from it.
“The CCTV cameras in the buses would ensure better security for women. Bus pass concession will also help senior citizens. We also expect better behaviour from the government bus crew. I only hope that all the facilities provided are properly implemented,” she said.
