BHUBANESWAR: The City Bus Service is all set to become more passenger friendly in the coming days as it completed one year of operations on Monday. Dream Team Sahara (DTS), the service operator, has started work on launching the innovative GPS-guided passenger information service on movement of city buses through the routes in the Capital City along with Cuttack, Puri and Khurda. The service would be rendered through toll-free telecommunication system informing passengers on the route to be taken to get to the destination, the bus number that plies on the intended route and the approximate waiting time at a particular bus stop to catch the vehicle. Commuters would just have to dial the number to get all the information. For example, if a person intends to go to KIIT from Rasulgarh, he would just have to call the toll-free number. He would not only be guided on the route to be taken along with the stoppages but also the arrival time of the bus which would take the route. “GPS navigation systems would be installed on all the buses to track their positioning and accordingly guide the passengers. The GPS-guided system would be installed by a Bangalore-based IT agency which has already done the feasibility study,” said Sudhanshu Jena, chief executive officer of DTS. The service would be available at 55 bus bays and 300 bus stops designated for city buses in the Capital and outside. The launch would, however, depend on the time taken by the Government for readying the stops and bus bays. Each stop would have its own name and signages be put up on the bus numbers and routes. The City Bus Service has become a vital mode of public transport not only in Bhubaneswar but also Cuttack. Starting off with six designated routes, the bus service has been extended to double the routes by pressing into service 95 vehicles. The buses ferry more than 50,000 people every day. The service is now planned to be extended to Jatni by this month-end. Five buses would ply on the route, Jena said. However, the bus operator has expressed concern over increasing losses due to delay in putting in place the required infrastructure by the Government. With the origin-destination terminals yet to come up the operator has claimed to be sustaining loss to the tune of ` 4-5 lakh per month on account of having to revert the vehicle back to the main terminus at Bhubaneswar from each destination everyday.
Comments
0 comment