Indore : With the ban on entry of 4-wheelers in the BRTS Corridor, there has been marked increase of passengers in i-Buses. Before the court ban, about 35,000 passengers used to travel by i-Bus but after the verdict, the figure has gone up to 42,000 per day.
“About 20-22 per cent rise in daily commuters has been witnessed in the buses. More facilities would be introduced in the days to come.” said, Sandeep Soni, CEO AICTSL.
Earlier in October 2014, the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed entry of 4-wheelers in the BRTS Corridor and the matter was referred to principal bench of the High Court. Later, the Jabalpur bench supported the decision of ban and referred back the case to the Indore bench.
Later in January 2015, the Indore bench came up with the decision to ban 4-wheelers in the dedicated route. The decision once again shifted the four-wheelers to the mixed lane.
“Before the court’s verdict, on an average 35,000 commuters were travelling on i-Buses which has gone up to 42,000 a day now, said Soni.
He added that, at least 36 buses are plying on the dedicated route with in a span of 5 minutes during peak hours and 7 minutes during non-peak hours. The AICTSL needs few more new buses as some new routes would be added soon,
“Fares of the buses are kept unchanged. There is no new plan to increase fares for now. Our focus is on providing facilities. As soon as we achieve that, we would consider revising the fares,” Sandeep added.
He said ATMs had been set up in the Corridor. Apart from that, automatic vending machines were also installed at several bus stops. A few other facilities are also in the pipeline that would be discussed in the board meeting.
Meanwhile, the local administration has decided to ban vans in the mixed lane, which will help AICTSL to garner more revenue.
