NCR Surface Transportation Thread

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

BTW, Delhi had 34 depots an year back instead of 3 (!!!) as mentioned in the article.

[Euromast]

Now, only 5000 buses to be GPS-enabled

New Delhi, October 20
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed senior officers of various departments to make surprise visits to the Commonwealth Games projects sites to monitor the progress of the work. She also asked them to make midnight visits to alert the agencies engaged in the construction work.

Sources in the CM’s office said the instructions were given to ensure the Commonwealth Games Federation that preparations for the Games would be completed in time.

For the Chief Minister, preparations of the Games have become a prestige issue after negative remarks made by some of the members of the Commonwealth Games Federation who reviewed the projects recently.

As various authorities—public works department, Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Corporation– are involved in the construction works related to the Games it is very difficult for a single authority to monitor them.

The Chief Minister asked the senior officers of the departments concerned to monitor the progress of the projects. She also advised them to visit the sites after midnight as at various places the work was being done 24 hours.

The Chief Minister said if any laxity was visible in the work, she would not spare the contractors, sources said.

The directions in this regard were issued last week and thereafter the officers have started visiting the sites after finishing their office work in the evening.

Sources said that the pace of work by the MCD had improved after the officers started visiting sites.

The CM has also asked the citizens to make complaints if they spot potholes, over-flowing drains and non-functional streetlights . She has also started a toll-free helpline for this purpose, the sources said.

[Abhishek901]

You mixed two different news articles Posting the second article.

Now, only 5000 buses to be GPS-enabled

With the clock ticking on the 2010 Commonwealth countdown, it seems that GPS systems have taken a backseat among all accessories that the new DTC buses are set to have.

While new buses promise mobile recharge vouchers among add-ons, out of 800 new DTC buses on roads, only around 110 on the BRT route have been equipped with the Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The initial proposal mooted to create the GPS-enabled Automatic Vehicle Tracking and Monitoring System with Passenger Information System (AVTMPS) on build-operate-transfer basis and planned to include at least 11,000 buses on Delhi roads, including DTC, and private buses.

Interestingly, now the tender is for 5,000 buses only as against the earlier plan for 11,000.

Earlier, a Gurgaon-based firm had backed out from running the GPS service putting the proposal on hold. In a pre-bid meeting that was called last month, around 30 companies came up. DTC officials are optimistic that the system should be in place by the year end.

However, if put in place, the system would facilitate timely travel as LED boards would tell passengers the exact location of a particular bus and the time it will take to reach the stop.

Currently, the buses installed with GPS systems run on the BRT corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand. The control room for the same has been set up at the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) office at ISBT, Kashmiri Gate.

When contacted, DTC officials said installation of the GPS systems was the responsibility of the DIMTS instead of the Delhi Transports Corporation.

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times




Indian Express




Indian Express




Indian Express

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[bharatiya]

Good efforts to make Delhi more pedestrian and public transport friendly.

[IndiansUnite]

***New thread created***

Please use this thread to post all updates, news reports and discussions on public transportation in the National Capital Region. Public transportation includes buses, auto-rikshaws, taxis, rikshaws , LRTS and trams (both proposed).

News related to the Delhi Metro should be posted in the Delhi Metro thread

Cheers

[Abhishek901]

From Monday, Delhiites will pay more for bus rides. The Delhi cabinet has approved a proposal to increase fares for all city buses,

including Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Blueline and Delhi Metro feeder services. The new approved fares for non-AC buses, as first reported by TOI on October 6, is Rs 5 for a distance upto 3 km, Rs 10 for 3-10 km and Rs 15 for over 10 km. Student passes have seen a leap — from Rs 12.50 to Rs 100.

The AC bus fares have been revised with respect to distance slabs. Now, commuters will have to pay Rs 10 for upto 3km, Rs 15 for 3-10km and Rs 25 for more than 10km. The fares for limited and special services are now a flat Rs 15 for non-AC buses and Rs 25 for AC buses. The airport shuttle will now cost Rs 75 in the AC bus and Rs 50 for non-AC ones. The general monthly bus pass will now cost Rs 800.

The government has, however, retained the rates for senior citizens and media. The same rates will prevail for Bluelines too while Metro feeder buses will now cost Rs 8 and Rs 10.

While announcing the hike, CM Sheila Dikshit said it had become necessary to effect a ``justified hike'' as the financial burden on DTC had increased after the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission and increasing operational costs. The fares were last revised in 2007, when not much change was effected, and before that in May 2002, December 1999 and October 1999. The rate of the student bus pass was last revised in 1954. ``The fare hike was long overdue as there had been no increase since the past seven years. The government was waiting to give the people better buses, and phase out the Bluelines. Even after the hike, Delhi has the lowest bus fares in the country even though our per capita income is the highest,'' said Arvinder Singh Lovely, transport minister.

The move has come as a huge relief to cash-strapped DTC as the revised fares will translate into revenue to the tune of Rs 400 crore annually. However, even this may not be good enough to wean it away from government subsidy. ``DTC presently takes a subsidy of Rs 600 crore annually from Delhi government. After the fare hike, the subsidy will get reduced to about Rs 200-250 crore. We have made a huge capital investment to get new buses. The focus now will be to improve the efficiency of the service,'' said RK Verma, Chairman, DTC and transport commissioner.

Out of several proposals for revised fares submitted to the Cabinet, this one was selected from many others as it has minimum overlapping with Delhi Metro fares. The premise followed is that if bus and Metro fares are the same, especially for long distance trips, commuters are more likely to prefer the Metro for the journey.

Calling the hike a ``double whammy for the poor'', Leader of Opposition, Delhi Assembly, VK Malhotra called for an immediate rollback of the hike. ``In an environment of unprecedented inflation when people from weaker sections are struggling to make ends meet, the fare hike will hit them very hard,'' he said.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also set up a fare fixation committee in August this year for revision of Delhi Metro fares. Even as the committee is yet to give its recommendations, sources said that the fares are going to be increased to Rs 8 for the base fare (0-2 kms) and Rs 32 for maximum fare (over 39 kms).

Meanwhile, DTC will purchase 1000 low-floor buses — 750 non-AC and 250 AC — instead of the earlier decision to get semi low-floor buses. The Cabinet also gave the nod for setting up of a Secured Communication Network (Tetra) for Commonwealth Games 2010.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

The new fare slabs are very foolish. DTC should have increased the slabs instead of reducing them. Also, with respect to previous slabs, the rise in prices highly varies depending on the distance travelled. Earlier, the slabs were as follows:

0-4 km = 3
4-8 km = 5
8-12 km = 7
> 12 km = 10

New slabs are:

0-3 km = 5
3-10 km = 10
10-12 km = 15

If a person travels 3.5 km by bus, then earlier he had to pay Rs. 3. Now he has to pay Rs. 10, a rise of more than 3 times (233%). And if a person traveled 9 km earlier, he had to pay Rs. 7. Now he has to pay Rs. 10, a rise of just about 40%.

Rise in fares is justified but reduction in slabs is not, and because of that change in fare from one slab to another is drastic. Traveling with a 2-wheeler will now be cheaper and, of course, more convenient than even non-AC buses. Why will then anybody use the public transport.

An even bigger problem is that one bus journey is usually not sufficient for reaching the destination. If I had to go from say, Sec-1 in Rohini to Sec-1 in Dwarka, I will have to take a bus from Rohini to reach ORR (covering 4 km). From there, I will take Outer Mudrika bus (covering 17 km). After that, I will have to take final bus from ORR to Dwarka (covering 4 km). For covering this 25 km, I will have to spend 10+15+10 = 35 Rs. in non-AC bus. 2-wheelers in India are very fuel efficient. One can cover same distance in lesser cost and without changing many buses and at much higher speed.

Most importantly, the govt. thought of achieving a close to break even for DTC by increasing prices. On the other hand govt. subsidises petrol and diesel. Earn profit from poor and subsidise the rich !! This happens only in India.

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Soon, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will run chartered buses on dedicated routes connecting business districts and bus terminals with residential pockets in the capital. Delhi government has reportedly asked the corporation to carry out a detailed commuter survey to finalize the routes.

The new fleet is being envisaged on the lines of private chartered buses and is aimed at making more car users switch to buses. The plan is to run the new airconditioned buses on these routes, which will be designed in a manner that there are minimum stops on the way. This will ensure commuting time is kept to the minimum possible. Though the government is yet to finalize a fare structure for the service, the fares would be a little higher than what commuters pay for ordinary buses.

"We have asked DTC to carry out a ridership survey at prominent bus stops from where the service can be run to get a sense of the routes that will prove profitable. The new service will provide non-stop movement from the place of work to home and for DTC, it will mean added revenue,'' said Arvinder Singh Lovely, transport minister.

With DTC now placing an order for an additional 1,000 low-floor buses, the corporation will have airconditioned buses to ply on some such routes. Sources said there is a huge potential for such a service in Delhi, where traffic jams on roads are becoming more nightmarish by the day. Even though the Metro is expanding its network, the advantage with buses is they can provide almost a door-to-door service to commuters. The areas being looked at include ITO, Nehru Place, Central Secretariat, Dwarka, Rohini, IP Extention, Kalkaji, Connaught Place, Kashmere Gate, where the number of bus commuters is high.

The service will also help in reducing the number of cars on the road. Estimates suggest one such bus can help reduce nearly 60 cars from the roads. The mandate to the corporation is to ensure that the bus service is at par with private players in the market, in terms of frequency, efficiency and punctuality. The buses will be equipped with Global Positioning System and Passenger Information Systems (PIS) for better monitoring.

Times of India

[think_different]

[bhargavsura]

That was really cool. Lets hope it turns out the way mentioned in the video. I am proud of what's happening in Delhi. Development news everywhere and the best part is the government is playing a big role in it. These stories need to reach Bombay, Calcutta, Bangalore, and Madras.

[bharatiya]

lol i love the end. It would be a great thing if this was implemented in Delhi (and other cities as well).

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times