Travelling on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses — both low-floor and those operating under the cluster scheme — with the swipe of your Delhi Metro smart card will be possible by autumn this year, sources said on Monday.
Announcement soon
More than a year after the project, which has been pending since the 2010 Commonwealth Games, was announced yet again by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, final touches are being given to its ambitious plan to provide common mobility across all modes of public transportation.
Newly sworn-in Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot is expected to make an announcement in this regard in the coming days, according to multiple government sources.
Common access
The Transport Department, according to a source, has tasked the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS) to procure a module that will enable the functioning of prepaid Delhi Metro smart cards aboard the public transporter's fleet of around 5,600 buses, which include 1,600-odd cluster buses and around 4,000 low-floor ones.
“One of the most significant technical issues related to common mobility was whether it was to be provided through Delhi Metro smart cards or separate ones developed for the DTC and it has now been decided to opt for the former,” said a senior government official privy to developments in this regard.
“DIMTS has been directed to float tenders for the procurement of a module to be attached to the Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) installed on a large number of both low-floor and semi low-floor DTC buses to enable Delhi Metro smart cards to be used aboard them. The procurement, followed by the immediate installation of the modules on ETMs, is now just a matter of three to four months,” the official added.
In his budget speech earlier this year, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia had said that while all the cluster buses operational in the Capital had ETMs, the AAP government proposed to implement the system across the fleet of the DTC by the end of the ongoing fiscal.
