Mar
The Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) has sent a proposal to the state government for plying 234 more buses in Bhubaneswar and to Puri and Cuttack.
Official sources said the plan to add more buses to the current fleet of 185 was mooted during BPTSL’s board meeting held at Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation ( BMC) office. The BPTSL is a government-controlled transport company.
The move is aimed at improving frequency of buses on these routes. At present, commuters have to wait for 15 to 20 minutes to catch a bus. It will come down to 10 minutes once the new buses are introduced, the sources said.
BPTSL general manager Jagabandhu Sahu said plans are afoot to run 111 buses in Bhubaneswar, while 123 would ply to Cuttack and Puri from here.
According to the proposal, 70 buses would run on new routes within Bhubaneswar while 41 would be added to the existing routes. “To augment the inter-city bus services, 72 buses would ply on new routes and 51 on the current ones,” Sahu said. Buses are running on total 21 routes in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, he said.
“The government would take a final call on how to generate funds for procuring these buses. A survey will be conducted to finalize the new routes. A decision on the number of air-conditioned buses is yet to be taken,” he added.
Over 65,000 passengers commute by 185 buses every day. Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed in air-conditioned buses for the safety of passengers, especially women. BPTSL sources said frequency of buses on Nandankanan-Airport route improved with introduction 33 buses in December 2012.
The new proposal will bring down waiting time from 30 minutes to 10 minutes on Khurda-Master Canteen route. Kalpana Square-Niladri Vihar and Biju Patnaik-AG Square routes are likely to get more buses, the sources added.
