CITY BUS SERVICE PUT ON FAST TRACK IN GURGAON

GURGAON: With the passing of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority Bill, 2017 in the state assembly, hopes for the launch of a dedicated bus service in the city have received a fresh boost.

In a step towards rolling out the bus service, the authority has floated tenders for two bus depots in sectors 10 and 54, while land for third depot in Sector 72 is being earmarked. The tenders were floated in second week of this month and the last date for applying is end of this month.

The authority had decided to purchase 500 CNG buses in a phased manner.

Tenders for the bus concessionaire will be floated as soon as the cabinet sub-committee approves the proposal for city bus that is much awaited, as there is no public transportation in Gurgaon.

A Committee of Secretaries on Infrastructure (COSI) had in November last year approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) — Greater Gurgaon Urban Transport Services Limited — to own and operate the Gurgaon city bus service.

“The proposal is scheduled to be sent to the cabinet sub-committee and as soon as the approval is received, tenders to finalise the bus concessionaire will be floated,” said V Umashankar, additional chief executive officer GMDA and the commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).

At present, the Haryana transport department operates a fleet of 115 low floor buses of which 55 are air-conditioned. The fleet, however, falls short of meeting the city’s demand, as 10% of vehicles remain stationed for repair and maintenance. As per the plan, the Greater City Bus Service is to run 500 buses of which 45% will be air-conditioned. The frequency of the service will be 7.5-10 minutes. In a pre-proposal survey, the MCG had an estimated potential ridership of three lakh per day.