New Delhi, India, Oct 2: The Delhi Government has decided to provide free travel in air-conditioned Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses plying in Delhi and the National Capital Region to all blind people.

It has also decided to remove the income limit on senior citizens for availing of concessional travel on DTC buses.

Announcing these decisions, Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said on Friday that while free passes being issued to blind persons were earlier valid in only non-AC buses plying in Delhi, from October 1 they would be valid in all AC and non-AC buses plying in Delhi and the NCR. At present about 12,900 such passes are issued annually by the DTC.

The Transport Minister said the Delhi Government has also decided to remove the income ceiling for allowing senior citizen passes for travelling in DTC buses. He said all residents of Delhi would be entitled to these passes on reaching the age of 60. While the non-AC pass costs Rs.50 per month, the AC pass costs Rs.150 per month. About 4.5 lakh passes are issued in this category annually.

On the operation of DTC buses, Mr. Lovely said its fleet of 6,500 buses includes 1,270 low-floor AC buses and 2,505 low-floor non-AC buses.

Last year the average daily ridership was about 30 lakh, the Minister said adding that about 45 lakh passengers use DTC services on average each day now. To cater to their needs, the Corporation makes 40,000 trips per day covering a combined distance of about 10 lakh km.

The higher ridership has also led to increase in DTC revenue. It is now earning about Rs.3.5 crore per day, which is significantly higher than last year's average of about Rs.75 lakh per day.

Mr. Lovely said the Corporation is also going for greater use of technology to improve its efficiency and profits. He said global-positioning system (GPS)-based automatic vehicle location system has already been installed in about 3,700 DTC buses and now covers almost all the low floor buses.

Through this system the speed of buses is being closely monitored and as such the cases of over speeding and fatal accidents have reduced drastically, the Minister pointed out. He said the Corporation is also taking punitive action against drivers for over speeding. Similarly, the system is being used to prevent idling or unauthorised rest by drivers and to ensure that no trip is missed, he added.

As for the Passenger Information System (PIS), Mr. Lovely said it would soon be launched by the Transport Department so that passengers waiting at a bus stop know exactly which bus plying on which route would be reaching them. “In the first phase, 100 bus shelters will be taken up involving about 2,500 DTC buses and this would include the cluster bus service,” he said.

The Minister said electronic ticketing machines would also be introduced in DTC buses soon to help in smoother operation of bus services.
Mr. Lovely said disciplinary action had also been taken against some DTC staff members for various violations. He said 947 drivers and 723 conductors reported not to be in uniform while on duty were challaned or were cautioned with strict warning. About 300 cases of improper parking were detected and 632 cases on non-display of LED/destination boards were detected.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com