Bhubaneswar: Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) has decided to add 189 more buses this year to the fleet of 200 buses plying under Mo Bus network.
CRUT General Manager Dipti Mohapatro said, “Currently, we are having a fleet of 200 buses. There is demand for more buses with an increase in footfall. This year the network will be expanded and 189 buses will be added to the fleet.”
Out of 189 new buses, 50 will be electric ones, the tender process for which is over and the agency has been selected. The buses will soon ply in the Capital region. Another 50 buses will be new diesel buses and the remaining 89 old buses will be added to the fleet after refurbishment, the work for which has already started, she said.
Mohapatro said CRUT will continue the reduced AC fares in technology-driven, citizen-friendly Mo bus service for the next two months.
“There has been overwhelming response after reducing AC ticket fares and rationalising the overall fare structure. In the month of November, our ridership was around 84,000 and revenue was around 11.75 lakh. The consistent faith of commuters in Mo Bus led to rise in ridership and revenue in January with an average of 1 lakh passengers per day respectively with revenue of Rs 12 lakh,” said CRUT General Manager Dipti Mahapatro.
While the revenue dropped by 1 per cent in December 2019 as compared to November figures, a consistent growth of 5 per cent is seen till date as against December 2019. There has been 22 per cent boost in AC ridership in December. Reports from CRUT suggested that while 4.3 lakh people travelled in AC Mo Bus during November, 5 lakh footfall was recorded in the month of December. Meanwhile, January saw a consistent growth of 9 per cent and about 4.7 lakh people have travelled in AC buses.