Of the 107 buses in the Haryana Roadways’ fleet for Gurugram, 47 are off the road for maintenance. Half the bus routes have been scrapped over the past few years and the authority is losing roughly ₹10 per km for running the service.
The dismal figures reveal the Haryana government’s neglect of the transport system in the Millennium City, which contributes the most to the State exchequer.
Gaurav Antil, general manager of Haryana Roadways, Gurugram, told The Hindu that a majority of the buses in the fleet are nearly eight years old. The ageing fleet is prone to frequent breakdowns, which leads to high maintenance costs and revenue loss.
The growing number of autorickshaws, e-rickshaws and app-based cab services have also eaten into the share of the bus service over the years, he said.
Mr. Antil conceded that despite the service running for six years, the department had failed to develop a mechanism to disseminate information on bus routes and timings, except for an inquiry room at the Gurugram bus stand.
Satpal Sangwan, a resident of Sector 15 Part-II, said: “Though cheaper, the city bus service is extremely unreliable and poorly managed. At times there are three-four buses parked outside HUDA City Centre waiting for passengers, while on other occasions the wait for a bus is endless.”
City of autorickshaws
No wonder then that the local population is largely dependent on personal vehicles, autorickshaws, e-rickshaws and cabs, leading to congested roads, high levels of pollution, accidents and frequent traffic jams.
More than 30,000 autorickshaws, including shared and personal, are the backbone of the city’s transport system. Often blamed for rash driving, flouting traffic rules, overloading, overcharging, misbehaving and creating traffic jams, autorickshaws are also the most unorganised mode of transport.
The police have time and again carried out drives to control “unruly” autorickshaw drivers but have been largely unsuccessful as they failed to address the root causes — lack of designated locations for parking and stopping, non-installation of fare meters, and corruption.
“It was after a two-day strike in 2016 that the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram and the police conducted a survey and identified 40-odd locations across the city to be developed as autorickshaw stands. It would have been convenient for commuters and reduced congestion, but there has been no progress on the issue since,” said Mahabir Singh, State president of the Haryana Auto Chaalak Sangathan.
The prepaid autorickshaw booths at HUDA City Centre and local bus stand were also shut recently, making commuters vulnerable to overcharging. With almost half the autorickshaws running on diesel, they also contribute to the city’s pollution levels.
Other modes of transport
Though autorickshaws are still one of the preferred modes of transport for office-goers, said a Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) report, their share in transportation has gone down with the advent of app-based cab services, e-rickshaws, commercial MUVs and private buses.
App-based bus service Shuttl started operations in the city in 2015 offering last-mile connectivity to Metro passengers, but over the past one-and-a-half years it has shifted focus to office-goers who commute over long distances.
“After one-and-a-half years of trying and evolving after the launch, we decided to concentrate on structured commuting of office-goers between Gurugram and neighbouring cities like Delhi, Faridabad and Noida,” said Siddhant Raizada of Shuttl.
Stressing the need for robust public transport system, Sarika Panda Bhatt, head of Integrated Transport and Road Safety, World Resources Institute India, said that studies have shown that widening a road does not ease traffic congestion.
A different perspective
“There are a variety of solutions to ease our commutes, including improving public transport systems and quality of roads; constructing pedestrian and cycling infrastructure; implementing traffic laws effectively; disincentivising use of private vehicles through zoning, taxes and hiked parking charges. Some may argue this to be theoretical but there are enough global examples to suggest this strategy works,” said Ms. Bhatt
Some good news
The city’s public transport situation may, however, change soon.
After missing several deadlines, the GMDA recently announced that phase-I of the city bus service will be launched on August 15, with 25 non-AC buses on 11 routes.
Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited CEO Chander Shekhar Khare said the number of buses in phase-I will eventually be increased to 200 and that bus queue shelters are being built across the city for commuters.
“The shelters will have information about the schedule of buses, which will be made available at a fixed frequency. Also, an app will be launched and a control room set up for better management of the service,” said Mr. Khare.
GETTING AROUND IN THE CITY
Gurugram lacks adequate organised public transport for local/intra-city commute
•The main mode of transport is Intermediate Public Transport (IPT), which leads to congestion pollution and safety issues, and provide poor level of service to residents
•Autorickshaws are widely used, but are an unorganised transport system and lack designated locations for parking and stopping
WHAT IS IPT?
•IPT refers to vehicles used on hire for flexible passenger transportation that do not follow a fixed time schedule
•Autorickshaws, e-rickshaws and app-based cab services are part of IPT. They are preferred over the State-run bus service in the city due to better availability, connectivity, frequency and lower prices
•The average IPT route length is longer than that of public transport
•IPT vehicles operate from metro stations, bus stands, and hubs such as IFFCO Chowk and Rajiv Chowk
•Due to absence of frequent bus service towards Manesar, privately-owned multi-utility vehicles ply on Manesar-M.G. Road and IFFCO Chowk routes
•Connectivity in Sectors 29, 45 and 56 is dominated by autorickshaws and cycle-rickshaws
•Metro feeder service from the bus stand to Sectors 55-56 is available
WHAT RESIDENTS SAY
Preference on type of bus service:
•Almost 42% of users want non-AC buses. While AC bus service is desired by 36%, 8% want point-to-point buses and 14% want express service
Reasons for not using bus service
24.5% Use own vehicle
27.2% No bus route
18.0% Crowding in bus
10.9% Timing issue
7.4% Poor bus service
6.4% Lack of bus stop nearby
5.4% Traffic jams
Travel pattern
• Around 33% of commuters either start or end journey outside Gurugram. Of this, Delhi is the start or end point for 29.5% of commuters
• Remaining 67% of the trips are within Gurugram
Purpose of travel
59% For work in Gurugram
17% Social
8% Education
7% Shopping
6% Business
3% Recreational
PROPOSED BUS SERVICE
•The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) plans to start a bus service on 11 routes from August 15
•The service will initially have 25 non-AC buses
Proposed routes
• Gurugram Bus Stand to Manesar 12 km
• Harsaru to Dundahera 11.9 km
• HUDA City Centre to Dharampuri 13 km
• Sector 2 to Ghata Village 19.7 km
• Basai Chowk to HUDA City Centre 12 km
• HUDA City Centre to HUDA City Centre (via. Hero Honda Chowk, railway station) 25.1 km
• Gurugram bus stand to Farrukhnagar 19.5 km
• Gurugram bus stand to Palam Vihar 10.5 km
• Cyber City to Badshahpur 17.7 km
• Gurugram bus stand to Ambience Mall 12.2 km
• Sector 56 to Dundahera 16.3 km
SOURCE: Report titled: “Implementation of City Bus Service Project in Gurugram – Bus Route Planning and Rationalisation” on GMDA website
