No more rough rides for south Delhi

Fleet of low-floor buses to roll out in the coming days

Fleet of low-floor buses to roll out in the coming days

South Delhi residents can look forward to journeys of comfort in the near future.

If all goes well, the bus commuters will avail the facilities of private low-floor buses before the Commonwealth Games in October. The Delhi government on Monday is likely to execute an agreement with Star Bus Services owner of the first cluster of buses that'll be rolled out soon.u00a0u00a0

"The agreement is likely to be signed within a day or two. For the first six months, we will do the operational work. As soon as the agreement is put into action, we will order the buses," said Nitin Garg, managing director, Star Bus Service.

The first cluster of buses will run on 32 routes in south Delhi including the BRT corridor. As per the agreement, the operator has to rope in the buses within one year of signing the memorandum of understating (MoU). After six months of signing the agreement, the process of delivering the buses will begin.u00a0

"A total of 231 low-floor buses will comprise the first cluster. After six months from signing of the MoU, 40 buses will be delivered every month. And within one year, the operator will have to rope in all the buses on the cluster," said a senior transport department official.

Going the corporate way

The cluster model was designed by the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) for phasing out Blueline buses in November 2007. As per the design, the city currently has been divided into 657 bus routes. They have further been divided into 17 clusters. Each cluster has both profitable and non-profitable routes. As per the model, the government would control bus fares while the private operator will be given a fixed amount Rs 47.5 per kilometre. DTC is also supposed to run 60 per cent low-floor buses in each cluster.

The Delhi High Court had earlier extended the deadline to phase out Blueline buses from south Delhi, as the government had failed in finalising the operator. The court suggested that the phase out should begin once the new buses arrive. Meanwhile, the government has already floated the tenders for three more clusters, and is in the process of finalising the operators.

How the system works
The first cluster of buses will be fitted with global positioning system. There will also be a central control room to track the buses, monitored by a government agency. The buses in this system will be run by the operator itself unlike in the case of the Blueline bus system. However, the revenue will go into the kitty of the government.

An amount of Rs 47.50 per kilometre will be paid to the operator by government. The operator will get a depot for workshop and parking purposes. The conductor will be selected by the government agency while the driver will be recruited by the operator itself.