In a major relief to bus passengers in the chilly winter, the Yogi Adityanath government has decided to give a 10 per cent discount on fares in air-conditioned (AC) buses in Uttar Pradesh. Passengers will be able to avail of this discount from December 16.

This fare relaxation by the state government has been provided as a special winter discount from December 16, 2023 to February 28, 2024.

UP’s Minister of State for Transport (Independent Charge) Dayashanker Singh said that passengers would also have the facility to travel in air-conditioned buses run by the UP State Road Transport Corporation by paying 10 per cent less fare during the winter season.

He mentioned that seeing less traffic of passengers in air-conditioned bus services with the onset of winter season, the fares of air-conditioned buses are being reduced.

The fare for AC 3×2 buses will now be Rs 1.47 per km per seat. Similarly, the fare for AC 2×2 buses will be Rs 1.74 per km per seat, the fare for AC sleeper buses will be Rs 2.33 per km and the fare for Volvo (high-end) will be Rs 2.58 per km per seat.

Dayashanker Singh said that this decision had been taken after due consideration to make AC services profitable. Notably, fuel consumption decreases in winter and at the same time, the load factor also reduces due to higher fares.

The transport minister said that it had come to notice that the travel facility for the differently-abled was not allowed in the newly operated Rajdhani buses. He instructed the officials to ensure travel facilities for divyangjan in Rajdhani buses as the fares of Rajdhani buses had now been made equivalent to regular buses.