New Delhi: With the process of purchasing 1,000 new buses expected to hit city roads in the next nine to 10 months, the Delhi government still faces a shortage of nearly 3,700 more to cover all routes.
According to official figures, there was a need for around 11,000 buses to cover all the areas in Delhi that has a total of 865 bus routes. “The city needs 11,000 buses in a bid to cover all areas. We have initiated the process to acquire 1,000 more. It will take around nine to 10 months for them to land on city roads,” Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said.
The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has a fleet of 3,944 buses. The Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) also runs 1,634 buses under the cluster scheme. The combined strength of around 5,600 buses manages to cover nearly 75 per cent of the identified routes in the city.
Furthermore, a total of 799 mini stage carriage buses ply on 124 routes, as per the Transport department figures. The State Transport Authority has identified 657 routes while the corporation has earmarked 208 more for bus operations. The cluster buses run on 124 of these routes and the corporation operates on 465.
The total numbers of buses, including those run by the DTC, cluster ones and mini stage carriers come to around 6,300. The proposed purchase of 1,000 buses will take the number to 7,300 leaving the bus fleet short of 3,700 buses to reach the required 11,000 figures.
The government has identified a total of 865 routes for operation of buses and the department has been able to ply buses on 714 of these routes, with many stretches having fewer than required number of buses serving them, officials said.
Last-mile connectivity is another area the Delhi government is focusing on, the transport minister informed in the recently held session of the Delhi Assembly. The department is seeking to connect the bus routes of RTVs, e-rickshaws and Gramin Sewa vehicles in the future in a bid to boost the last- mile connectivity, he had said.
