Delhi to launch premium bus service; bookings can be made on app

To encourage use of public transport, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the government’s new plan to roll out a “quality bus service”. The CM made the announcement on Wednesday and stated that the government wants to provide a good, premium quality bus service so that people can leave their private vehicles and use public transport. 

The CM said that government held a meeting with the Transport Department to discuss ways of using the existing fleet. “How to use existing fleet of buses in Delhi most efficiently? How many more buses do we need? How to integrate all modes of tpt? Today, I had a discussion wid senior officials of transport dept on “Route rationalisation” proposal. We will soon seek public feedback on the same (sic),”  he said on Twitter. 

Kejriwal said that the government will take public feedback on the same, and that the scheme will be app-based. 

"We wish to provide good quality premium bus service so that people leave their pvt vehicles and use public tpt. Discussed App-based bus aggregator scheme wid tpt dept. We will seek public feedback on the same (sic)," said Kejriwal in another tweet.

However, this is not the first time the Delhi government has considered such a scheme. It had approved a similar proposal in May 2016, which never saw the light of the day as they had not taken Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s approval. Similarly, this plan was discussed in 2017 and 2018 too but did not work out due to various restrictions. 

The minister after the meeting on Wednesday said that all the buses in this scheme will be BS-VI compliant AC-CNG or electric buses. But all buses under this scheme after January 1, 2024 will only be electric.

There will be no provision to stand in these buses and will be seating-only, which will be facilitated by the app. The buses will have CCTVs, panic buttons and digital payments facilities, integrated with the app. A detailed blueprint for the drafting and implementation of the policy was presented by the department officials. 

The project will serve passengers who seek high standards of quality, comfort, convenience and efficiency, the statement said. 

Each aggregator under this scheme will be licenced to operate and maintain a fleet of 50 premium buses to be operationalised within 90 days. They will determine the bus routes, which will be notified on the app. In case a new route is started or an existing one cancelled, the aggregator will inform the Transport Department. However, this must be done with a prior notice of seven days to the public and the department. 

The aggregators will determine a ‘suitable dynamic’ fare for destinations, which will be displayed on the app. There will be no physical tickets, and only on mobile- or browser-based apps.

There will have to be a grievance redressal mechanism as well, along with at least two CCTV cameras in the vehicle. The Transport/Police Helpline number (42400400) has to be displayed. The CNG buses operated by aggregators must not be older than three years, the statement said. The aggregators will need to provide proof of adequate overnight parking space too, which will not include public spaces. 

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