The efforts to streamline the inept public transport system in city seems futile, as neither the of Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) nor the bus operators have set the time-table for the city buses operation plying on different routes. In a meeting of RMC Transport Cell on Friday, Municipal Commissioner, Shantanu Kumar Agrahari instructed the bus operators to follow the norms and make all 91 city buses operational.
On the other hand, bus operators stated that until the monopoly of auto-rickshaw drivers is not controlled, movement of city buses along the busiest routes will be difficult regardless of any attempt. Besides, proper demarcation of bus stoppages by Institute for Transportation and Developed Policy (ITDP) is yet to be ensured at certain locations.
Notably, the Municipal Corporation officials have received complaints that the city buses were ferrying passengers in suburb routes. Also, in spite of several reminders none of the operators have submitted a detailed list of probable bus stoppages covered by different city buses.
“The buses timing, stoppages are secondary factor. At the moment, the arbitrariness of auto-rickshaw drivers is the major issue. The city bus service cannot be initiated in a full-fledged way considering the traffic jam. The Municipal Commissioner has assured that soon all the auto-rickshaw drivers plying without permits will be penalized,” said, the new bus operator, Suresh Singh.
The meeting conducted in the presence of District Transportation Officer (DTO), bus operators and city managers (Transportation Cell), the Municipal Commissioner said that all the substandard buses lying non-operational in the absence of maintenance must be made ready clearing all the essential documentation work.
Besides, the bus operators also mentioned that quite a number of e-rickshaws are also posing hurdle in smooth operation of city buses. Singh further added that most of the buses both new and old are plying commuters on city routes. Only 17 buses are out of service while in some cases, the documentation work is pending.
Interestingly, the Department of Urban Development has decided to make city buses, the most common mean of public transportation while barring the auto-rickshaw service here in Capital City in the days to come. At the moment, more than 7000 autos are plying passengers without permits. Official reports suggest that only 2300 auto-rickshaws have been given permits to ply within the State Capital.