Why take a congested route, ask passengers

Used to driving to his Janpath office during morning peak hours, Janakpuri resident BS Sharma was overjoyed on reading about the destination bus service. He shared the news with colleagues who asked him to take the first ride as an “experiment”.

The beginning was disappointing. He spent over 30 minutes searching for the Janakpuri C-2 bus stop to get the bus that promised a non-stop 20-km ride to Shivaji Stadium.

Sharma resumed the search on Wednesday and found the bus that neither had signage nor was parked beside a queue shelter.

“In the advertisements, the DTC must mention some landmarks near the bus stops,” said Sharma.

He hopped on to the bus, just a minute before it departed at 8.40 am sharp, after a five-minute halt. He shared the entire bus with only five other passengers, including the reporter. Four of us were first-timers on a destination bus.

“The news reports sounded like a fancy proposal that would never take off,” said Vinay Gaur.

For the first few days, there were only a few passengers but the number is slowly increasing. “It feels better to serve a group of passengers instead of just one or two individuals. Still, there is one passenger who regularly takes this bus,” said Sanjay Kumar, the driver.

The passengers were enthusiastic but highlighted a few problems. “If the bus does not pick any passengers on the way, why does it not opt for a less congested route?” suggested Sudhakar Tripathi, another government employee with his office in Janpath.

The bus number DS-16 we boarded was stuck in a traffic jam near Dhaula Kuan, extending the 50-minute journey by 20 minutes. The bus then drove through the relatively narrow and busy Ashoka Road instead of the clear Akbar Road. “We have been given a fixed route, so we have no option,” said Karmvir.

The driver admitted to sometimes stopping the bus midway to drop passengers who had their offices on the way.

After getting off the vehicle near Shivaji Stadium at 10 am, Sharma says at least half-a-dozen colleagues will join him when he boards the bus again on Thursday. But the joy will be limited to only morning rides.

“The return bus from Shivaji Stadium leaves at 5.55 pm. But office gets over by 6 pm,” said Sharma as he began his 10-minute walk to office.