Plan to create electric bus fleet for Delhi

Govt considers procuring 500 standard-floor and smaller-size buses to strengthen public transport

The move aims to improve last-mile connectivity in areas not connected by State-run buses.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is giving final touches to its plan to create a fleet of electric buses to augment public transportation in the Capital.

According to sources, two separate clusters are being considered — one directly under the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the other under the Cluster Scheme model — after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently directed the Transport Department to go ahead with the proposal.

500 bus target

“The objective is to get standard-floor buses to augment the public transportation system and smaller buses to improve last-mile connectivity in areas which are not adequately connected to either State-run buses or the Delhi Metro,” said a source.

The source added that 500 electric buses are proposed for procurement and the details of the project would be threshed out in the coming week.

Given the high price tag on electric vehicles, however, the government is studying the findings of a cost-benefit analysis to ascertain future course of action in relation to the procurement of such vehicles.

“The post-procurement cost of such vehicles, including the mandatory requirement of changing the electric battery which they run on after a certain duration (usually around a year), is rather expensive that is why opinion is currently divided on the number of the fleet which is proposed,” the source said.

Cost consideration

Discussions were also held on the initial cost of such buses which, according to the source, was working out to be around three to four times a low-floor or standard-floor bus which are currently operational in the Capital.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday had demanded urgent steps by various government departments to strengthen its existing public transport infrastructure.

According to sources, Mr. Kejriwal issued directions to urgently fill up 2,000 vacancies in the DTC, expedite the procurement of buses scheduled to be rolled out by the transporter next year, route rationalisation by DIMTS and creation of a fleet of electric buses at the earliest.

Parallel routes’ merger

Meanwhile, to boost public transportation, the Delhi government said it was making attempts to increase bus frequency by merging parallel routes. The last time such an exercise was undertaken was in 2009.

Beginning the process, the Transport Department put forth a proposal in a meeting of the State Transport Authority, which suggested involved merging 73 routes to increase frequency of mini-stage carriage buses.

The Transport Department will also take the help of the School of Planning and Architecture for the route-rationalisation exercise, the official said. There are 73 routes for mini-stage carriage buses which provide last-mile connectivity by ferrying passengers from residential areas to Metro stations. “Route rationalisation will involve shifting buses on routes having less buses and poor frequency. On an average, one route is 17-km-long and 14 buses are required with a frequency of 10-15 minutes,” the official added.