Indore’s iBus BRT service now proudly transports more than 23,000 passengers per day, proving to be an affordable, convenient and comfortable mode of transport, even as the iBus completed 100 days of operation.
The iBus is Indore's first-ever full BRT system, with a dedicated lane for its air-conditioned buses.
At present, 13 buses run on an 11.45 kilometers stretch on the city's arterial AB Road. There are 21 stations on the corridor, and buses run from7:00 am to 11:00 pm. The iBus is an affordable public transport service, with a simple fee structure. Travel up to 2 km costs INR 5.00, up to 8 km costs INR 10.00 and above 8 km costs INR 15.00.
As the commercial hub and the largest city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Indore faces a growing population of over 2.29 million residents. The city witnessed increased road congestion, travel delays, traffic accidents and vehicular pollution. A modern, safe, efficient public transit system was needed to mitigate these problems.
The Atal Indore City Transport Services limited (AICTSl), Indore’s city transit agency, supported by EMBARQ India, launched a trial phase of the iBus BRT corridor in May 2013. During this phase, 6 custom-made air-conditioned BRT buses ran for 6 hours a day.
On the first day of the trial run itself, 2000 people rode the iBus, and positive public response saw the iBus scale up to 8 buses, running full-day operations. Fare collection was introduced in June 2013.
The current 11.45-kilometer stretch on the city’s arterial AB Road marks the first phase of the project.
The entire project will be an 88.4-kilometer bus rapid transit network, to be completed in two further phases. At full fleet strength, the iBus will have 50 buses in total, and is expected to serve over 50,000 passengers per day, at conservative estimates.