Public transport system in the city is all set for a major boost as the much-awaited cluster bus service, to be run by corporate entities on the lines with those in London and Paris, was rolled out here on Thursday with an initial fleet of swanky low-floor buses.
Launching the service — the first of its kind in the country — Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, said the bus transport system in Delhi will soon match similar services in top world cities.
All the low floor swanky orange-coloured buses under cluster service will have an on board passenger information system similar to that of Delhi Metro, global positioning system, temperature reader, clock, electronic display board and CCTV cameras and electronic ticketing machines (ETMs).
“The cluster service will significantly improve public transport facilities in Delhi. People will now have better road transport options,” Ms. Dikshit said after flagging off the first batch of 50-buses under the first cluster which will be run in South Delhi.
The first cluster, to be run by Star Bus Pvt Ltd in 32 routes in South Delhi, will have a total of 231 buses including around 20 air conditioned ones and officials said the remaining buses will be added to the current fleet of 50 within three months. All the buses under the services are Euro-IV compliant.
In 2009, the Delhi government had divided nearly 650 bus routes across the city into 17 clusters — each comprising profitable and non-profitable routes and decided to give each cluster to a private operator. Three corporate entities were already given contract to operate the services in five clusters.
“It is a major initiative to bring reform in the bus transport system in the city. All the corporate entities which have been given contracts for other four clusters will begin its services within two-three months,” said Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.
The cluster bus service was envisaged to replace the ‘killer’ Blueline fleet, which has almost been phased out from the capital. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) currently operates around 6,500 buses, including 4,000 low-floor buses.
Officials said DTC will operate 40 per cent buses in every cluster while the private entity will operate the remaining 60 per cent buses. The bus operation will be based on a ‘Unified Time Table’ which is being developed by Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS), which conceived the new model of cluster service.
They said the total fleet size under the new service is expected to be around 800 buses by August this year when services in the remaining four clusters are launched.
As per the plan finalised by DIMTS, which has been tasked with monitoring and managing the services, the transport department will collect the bus fares while the private operator will be paid a fixed amount on the basis of every kilometre travelled.
Officials said operation of the buses will be monitored through the Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) on real-time basis through the ‘Operation Control Centre’ which has been made functional at the ISBT, Kashmere Gate.
While the private carriage bus operators will be paid on the basis of the number of kilometers travelled, they will be subjected to penalty in the event of deviations from the prescribed standards.
“Strict performance benchmarks have been set for operation of the buses such as adherence to routes and service-schedules, adherence to speed limits, cleanliness of the buses etc,” said the officials.
