The first of its kind electric bus in the country, which was inaugurated with much fanfare on Thursday, has got a good response with many taking the ride just to find out how it feels to be on the emission-free bus. Besides the general public, even the drivers and conductors of regular buses were seen boarding the electric bus just to get the first-hand experience of being on a zero-emission vehicle.
To a query on his experience, Presidency College student Kishan Kumar, who boarded the bus at the Kempe Gowda bus station, said: “It feels good and the ride was really smooth.”
According to the bus conductor, G.N. Nagabhushan, said collection on Friday and Saturday crossed Rs. 20,000. “Like Volvo buses, this bus too makes six trips a day and the response has been great so far,” he stated.
A representative of the manufacturing company, BYD Auto, was also on the bus. He said that one staff member would be travelling everyday for at least a month during the trial period.
“On Saturday, the bus travelled about 170 km. We will have to see how the bus fares on the Indian roads and continuously monitor its functioning over the first few weeks,” said Ketsu Thang, BYD’s regional manager. “We need more electric buses. It is economical, compared to the expenditure incurred on fuel for regular buses,” said Hemu Salian, a resident of Brookefields near ITPL.
The bus travels at a speed of 60-65 km per hour in the city during peak hours. The electric bus takes about two hours to cover the distance between Kempe Gowda Bus Station and Kadugodi with the time reducing by half an hour during non-peak hours.
