NCR Surface Transportation Thread

[Abhishek901]

Indian Express

[Abhishek901]

Indian Express

[zenith_suv]

Double-decker buses next year


Vehicles Will Cover Tourists Spots

Richi Verma & Megha Suri Singh | TNN

New Delhi: By next year, Delhi can expect to have its own hop-on-hop-off heritage tourist bus service modelled on the lines of the London counterpart. Delhi government has proposed to introduce specially designed double-decker buses, which will be run on tailor-made routes taking tourists not just to monuments but also museums, shopping venues, theatre and even typical Indian weddings for the foreign clientele.

The buses will be luxury coaches with large window panes to enable a clear view of the city from every seat.
To make them attractive, they will be painted in bright colours and the exteriors will be designed by professionals to reflect the character of the tours on offer. Every bus will have a guide on board to keep the visitors updated on the sites as they pass by.

In a joint collaboration between Delhi Tourism and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), the government is eager to introduce these buses before the Commonwealth Games kick off in October. But the service is not just aimed at the foreign tourists expected in Delhi during the Games. The government is also targeting the average Delhiite who can take a hop-onhop-off tour in place of going to a cinema or a restaurant, which officials said will also take away the burden of parking and planning. The routes are being chalked out by Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) and Shahjahanabad Development Corporation, and Intach will also provide trained guides and printed literature to be available on board.

The concept of hop-on-hop-off, which is very popular in European countries, has buses running on predefined routes at regular intervals. Tourists can choose a route and board any bus. They will have the option of getting off at a place of their interest on the way and have the choice of taking any of the later buses on the same route. The ticket has a day-long validity. ‘‘The idea came from a meeting on heritage sites and walks. Intach had suggested we should have these kind of buses specifically for tourists so that they can walk around sites and cover a larger number of heritage areas and other places of interest,’’ said chief secretary Rakesh Mehta.

The tourism department has started work on identifying themes for the tours and so far zeroed in on Mughal, Colonial, Independence and Mehrauli area. Said Reena Ray, MD, Delhi Tourism: ‘‘DTC will provide the buses and we will take care of the tourist and culture part. Each tour will be a fullday package with its share of monuments, shopping, places of interest like Dilli Haat and then culminate with a theatre performance in the evening. We have even got suggestions to introduce a typical Indian wedding in the schedule for foreigners but the main focus will be heritage. We are looking at a June-July launch.’’

DTC, meanwhile, is scouting for the perfect double-decker bus for the service. ‘‘All the double-decker buses we have seen run on diesel, but we need a CNG variant for Delhi. There are issues on where the cylinders will be accommodated in the bus design. Also, the model needs to suit our climatic conditions and dust in the city. The bus could have large windows for a good view,’’ said a senior DTC official.

Though the fare structure has not yet been finalised, Ray said that it would not be very expensive as they want to target the aam aadmi also.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...Mode=HTML&GZ=T

[vignu]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

Indian Express

The figures given are wrong." Collection per bus Rs41000"..Its impossible any where in India and in Delhi ther s no chance since lot of pass holders are there. I think it should be Rs 4100/bus per day

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by vignu

The figures given are wrong." Collection per bus Rs41000"..Its impossible any where in India and in Delhi ther s no chance since lot of pass holders are there. I think it should be Rs 4100/bus per day

A bus carries more than 500 passengers in one trip as many passengers board and alight in the route. And a bus normally covers 10 trips per day, so the earnings will be much higher than 4100.

[Abhishek901]

Times of India

[bharatiya]

Something very stupid they do in all new Indian buses Ive seen, why are the handles that you hold on to not properly attached to the pole? They are often only connected by a strap that moves with the bus. People end up falling into each other for this reason. Why couldnt they just have metal handles that firmly attach to the pole?

[vignu]

Originally Posted by Abhishek901

A bus carries more than 500 passengers in one trip as many passengers board and alight in the route. And a bus normally covers 10 trips per day, so the earnings will be much higher than 4100.

I want to share this information
http://http://www.cseindia.org/About...s_20070726.htm

As per this DTC transports 1000 bus per day and there are so many pass holders and many of the commuters take Rs 3 tickets. so 4100 may be the reality although it is too low

In Mumbai a bus takes, = 4800000pass. / 4037 buses = 1189 passengers
A bus in Chennai transports - 4300000/3000 = 1433 passengers
Bangalore = 4000000/5000 = 800 ( bangalore has biggest fleet and least crowding )
In blue line its 1600+ because they start early in morning and run till mid night ( service period more then DTC) and they stop at every bus stop and keep on calling for passengers to increase their collections.

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by vignu

I want to share this information
http://http://www.cseindia.org/About...s_20070726.htm

As per this DTC transports 1000 bus per day and there are so many pass holders and many of the commuters take Rs 3 tickets. so 4100 may be the reality although it is too low

In Mumbai a bus takes, = 4800000pass. / 4037 buses = 1189 passengers
A bus in Chennai transports - 4300000/3000 = 1433 passengers
Bangalore = 4000000/5000 = 800 ( bangalore has biggest fleet and least crowding )
In blue line its 1600+ because they start early in morning and run till mid night ( service period more then DTC) and they stop at every bus stop and keep on calling for passengers to increase their collections.

40% of people using DTC buy Rs. 3 ticket and rest buy Rs.5 or more. Plus you need to add earnings from monthly and daily passes as well. It seems to be higher than 4100 but surely not 41,000. They might not have added earnings from passes. In that case, 4100 seems to be right.

[Abhishek901]

Indian Express

[bains1971]

I liked the buses in the beginning not sure now, more variety would do.

[zenith_suv]

Transport Department Revises Private Bus cluster Idea

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Indian Express

[zenith_suv]

Operators protest blueline phase-out


Nothing Doing I say, out with the menace

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[Abhishek901]

Indian Express

[Abhishek901]

With the hike in bus fares, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) revenue has increased by nearly 40% since Thursday. But commuters are demanding better service in terms of reliability and frequency of buses. DTC is now gearing up to bring about several changes, the first of which would be creation of a dedicated fleet to be run exclusively on school routes. Other measures include driver training and reworking of timetables.

In the last two days, the revenue from ticket sales was Rs 1.68 crore on Thursday and Rs 1.64 crore on Wednesday, an increase of more than 40% compared to the average revenues for the same days in the previous week at Rs 1.19 crore. "There has been no perceptible change in ridership after the fare hike even as revenues increased considerably. Now, we are going to concentrate on making the service better by improving availability and reliability of the DTC fleet,'' said Naresh Kumar, DTC managing director.

By the year end, the corporation will deal with the reliability issue. "We want to create a dedicated fleet of buses to be run on school routes, which will do office trips in the spare time. But the buses on normal routes will not be withdrawn,'' Kumar said.

The decision is being taken after it was observed that some DTC buses which have been put on school routes tend to withdraw from service earlier than scheduled. At present, about 1,300 buses DTC buses run in nearly 700 schools in the city. In the afternoon, there are virtually no state-run buses on the roads. The government is going to remove Bluelines by March next year, so getting the noon service in order is a priority, said officials. They said availability of buses will improve next month as both the bus manufacturers Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland have started supplying the fresh orders.

The corporation has also started imparting formal training to drivers for both driving skills on simulators at Automobile Association of Upper India (AAUI) and for behaviour. All the drivers are being sent for refresher courses. Furthermore, with the new buses, the timetables will be reworked and new routes will be introduced.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

The transport department's initiative to issue smart cards for all autorickshaws touted as the only solution to the auto mess in the city may have begun, but this has hardly acted as a deterrent for auto drivers who continue to fleece commuters. Now they are citing the hike in price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for overcharging.

Meanwhile, barely 100 auto drivers are turning up everyday at the auto unit of the Regional Transport Department at Burari for the smart cards, as against the daily target of 500 set by the department. So far, just a little over 1,200 auto drivers have turned up to get the smart cards since the scheme was launched on October 21. The department claims those who don't turn up will get a second chance at the end of the process, failing which they could face cancellation of permits.

Vandana Gupta, a resident of Hauz Khas, said: "On Wednesday, auto drivers came up with a new excuse to charge extra money. I was told that the price of CNG has increased and I should dole out Rs 20 more than the meter fare if I want to hire the auto. There is so much happening for the Commonwealth Games, but why is the government not doing anything on this front.''

For the record, industry estimates suggest that on an average, an auto uses about 4 kg of CNG everyday. The price of CNG has gone up by just 20 paise per kg which translates into a strain of about 80 paise a day for the auto driver. This is hardly a reason to hike fares.

Officials claim that the smart card system has been designed to ensure that each and every auto plying in the city gets a smart card by next February. In batches of about 500 daily, auto owners are called to the autorickshaw unit at Regional Transport Office in Burari to get their papers in order, including details of the drivers, their driving licences and public service badge (PSB) numbers. The details are verified by the transport department and at the end of the exercise, a computerized smart card is issued for the vehicle containing all the details and photographs of the authorized persons for reference of the department and enforcement agencies.

"Since auto owners are called on specific dates worked out on the basis of the series of the vehicle registration number, there is no question of evasion. We plan to take stern action, which may even include cancellation of permits,'' said a senior transport department official.

What about enforcement, especially when auto drivers have no regard for the law? Officials say that no amount of enforcement will show result as the auto problem is one of demand and supply. "The solution is to increase the number of autos in the city, which is being looked into by EPCA. Untill this happens, the problem will remain,'' said an official.

Till August this year, traffic police have booked 5,745 autos and taxis for refusing to go by the meter, overcharging and misbehaviour. About 1,58,136 auto drivers have been prosecuted for various traffic offences up to July 31 this year as against 94,990 during the same period last year. Though police admit that enforcement is not up to the mark, they cite shortage of manpower and problems in the system as major reasons for autos having a free run.

At present, one of the main problems in reigning in errant auto drivers is that nearly 80% of the challans issued never reach the real owners. The reason, say officials of the transport department, lies in the fact that records available with government are outdated. In a majority of cases the details of the real owner of the vehicle are not given to the department to evade prosecution or to facilitate ownership of multiple permits by the same person, who in turn rent out the vehicles to untrained drivers for a daily sum.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times




Hindustan Times

After nearly 11 months of delay, the corporatization plan for Delhi’s bus-based public transport is finally back on track. Delhi Cabinet on Monday gave its approval for awarding Cluster I of corporatization of Bluelines to Star Bus Services Pvt Limited, which was the lowest bidder. The agreement will be signed this week after which the operator will be given six months to procure the buses.

The corporatization process was put on the backburner for the last few months as the rate quoted by the lowest bidder, about Rs 47.5 per bus per km, was higher than what government was planning to pay. With the recent hike in bus fares coupled by a Cabinet decision to allow advertising in buses, the financial commitment has got reduced substantially, making the process viable again.

‘‘The go-ahead to corporatization scheme is another step towards the phasing out Bluelines. With the bus fare revision and the Cabinet nod to allow advertising on buses, we hope that the financial burden on the government to run this service will get substantially reduced,’’ said Arvinder Singh Lovely, transport minister.

The first cluster will have a total 573 buses on 32 routes. Of these, half the fleet will comprise DTC buses and the other half by Star Bus Services, which will be paid about Rs 85.77 crore for first year (Rs 47.4 per bus per km). The revenue from sale of bus tickets will go to the government’s kitty. Before the bus fare hike, the government was assuming that sale of tickets will account for about Rs 30 of the Rs 47 to be paid to the operator.

It was the additional Rs 17 (approx) per bus per km (multiplied by 365 and the number of buses) which was proving to be a burden. But now, the fare revision has reduced the gap to about Rs 5-10, and it is expected that some amount of revenue will also come from advertisements. So government will now shell out much less from its own kitty towards running the bus service.

On the contrary, DTC officials revealed that the cost of operating the fleet works out to over Rs 75 per bus per km, after catering for depreciation of the buses and taking into account salaries of the bus staff. So the corporatization will actually prove cheaper.

Delhiites can expect buses on the first cluster to be running by next year. ‘‘We are also planning to come out with Requests for Qualification (RFQs) and Requests for Proposal (RFPs) for the remaining 16 clusters soon so that all of them can be awarded at the earliest,’’ said RK Verma, transport commissioner. Cabinet also approved provision of funds to bridge the revenue expenditure gap in funding the operations. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit expressed confidence that corporatization will help ensure a reliable public transport system in Delhi.

The challenge before the government now is to provide parking space for the new fleet of buses which are expected to roll soon. The operator will bring in all low-floor CNG buses and will have an option to bring in 20% airconditioned buses, too.

Times of India

After examining several proposals for running bus-based public transport in Delhi, the government finally opted for the cluster model to replace the ‘‘killer’’ Bluelines. Touted as the one-point solution to the existing mess, corporatization promises to change the experience of commuting by bus in the city.

At the root of the solution lies its revenue model, which has been kept completely different from the Blueline system. The city has been divided into a total of 17 clusters based on overlapping bus routes, and all routes where five or more bus routes overlap have been included in the same cluster. The government will allot operation of bus services in one cluster to the same operator. So, when all the buses on a route are run by the same entity, there is no scope for competition.

To allow a level playing field, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will run 50% of the buses on the same routes, and this ratio will be the norm on all routes across the city, whether profitable or not. The government will make use of modern gadgetry like GPS to ensure that buses adhere to preset timetables and don’t stray away from the routes.

The operator, in return, will get a fixed sum of money from the government for running the bus service. The ticketing in all the buses has been outsourced to a third agency and the revenue from ticket sales will be given to the government. The operator will get the money irrespective of ridership on the fleet. The government proposal has been formulated a manner so as to ensure that all expenses on the operator’s part — which include capital investment on buying the buses, operation costs like fuel, vehicle wear and tear, worn out parts, maintenance, etc and monthly costs like salary of bus staff and control room personnel — are covered.

Unlike the inconsiderate Blueline staff, the drivers of the new fleet have to be qualified and trained. The operator will also be expected to maintain biometric records of each driver’s past accident records. A copy of this will be maintained with the transport department to ensure that ‘‘bad drivers’’ are blacklisted by all operators. The government is planning to have a user-feedback system to rate performance of operators which will be judged on parameters like safety, cleanliness in buses, reliability of service, behaviour of staff, etc. The fares will be at par with DTC.

The decision to revamp the Blueline system was taken two years ago after there were a spate of accidents involving such buses on Delhi roads. The main problem with the privately-run bus transport system was competition as different operators run buses on the same routes. This led to problems like overspeeding and reckless driving in a bid to get passengers first, thus causing accidents.

Several options were explored, including going back to the kilometre scheme. But after studying bus-based public transport models in several countries, like Canada, Norway, London and Australia, where quality of service is important, not revenue, and safety is given paramount importance, the cluster model was prepared for Delhi by Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).

Times of India