The Delhi government on Friday inducted 100 new orange cluster buses, which will ply on nine routes in the Capital.
Delhi Transport Minister Satyendar Jain said that 450 air-conditioned and 250 non-AC clusters buses would also be added to the cluster fleet soon.
The move is aimed at augmenting public transport in the city.
GPS-enabled buses
The new buses, which were flagged off by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Mr. Jain, are GPS-enabled. Passengers travelling in these buses will be given tickets through e-ticketing machines.
The Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) operates cluster buses.
It is a joint venture company of the Delhi government and the IDFC Foundation (a not-for-profit organisation).
The DIMTS was formed to prepare, plan, design and implement complex transport-related projects for Delhi.
Under the cluster scheme, private players buy and operate buses. These buses, however, are operated by the DIMTS which pays them per kilometre.
‘Govt. wants more buses’
“The Delhi government wants more buses on the roads so that people who have cars and bikes can use public transport,” Mr. Sisodia told the media after flagging off the new fleet.
With the induction of the 100 buses, the cluster fleet strength has reached 1,725 buses.
The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), a State-owned bus agency, has around 4,000 buses.
City needs 10,000 buses
Mr. Jain said that, at present, there were around 6,000 buses on the city roads, which included the DTC and cluster buses.
The Capital, however, needs 10,000 buses.
The Transport Minister also said that the government had plans of developing DTC bus depots as multi-level buildings.
Three depots — Narela, Bawana and East Vinod Nagar — are being developed as multi-level depots.
“Seven new bus depots are being developed to cater to more buses. As many as 3,000 new buses will be added to the city roads by the end of this year,” Mr. Jain added.
Local approaches Sisodia
Meanwhile, before the buses were inaugurated here, an aggrieved local resident stepped up from the crowd and approached Mr. Sisodia.
Later identified as Sanjeev Jain, a resident of Patparganj, which is Mr. Sisodia’s constituency, he complained to the Deputy Chief Minister about the Delhi government “promoting privatisation” by bringing in cluster buses, but not buying buses for the DTC.
Responding to his allegation, Mr. Sisodia called him part of the “liquor mafia”.
