In Amritsar, the buses running the BRTS project have not been successful in attracting passengers. The BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) project was started four months ago in Amritsar & it seems as if the project has picked up well with the people here in the city.
It has been four months since the BRTS project was inaugurated and the buses running under it have failed to attract passengers. Only a small number of people are using the buses run the BRTS Project. The company officials assured a decrease in the bus fare but due to the poor management, the proposal is yet to be implemented.
Bus Fares Were Not Reduced
The Metro bus operating company’s manager said that the company officials had planned to decrease the bus fare but they have not got any intimation till date. He said that the higher officials in Chandigarh will decide about this matter.
Sukhbir Singh Badal, former deputy chief minister of Punjab had inaugurated the BRTS Project last year on December 14, 2016 just before the Assembly elections. The buses under the BRTS project used to run from the India Gate on the Amritsar-Attari bypass road to the Amritsar Railway Station.
In the second phase, the buses under this project started running on the Verka Bypass-Vijay Nagar-Mall Road-Kitchlew Chowk-railway station route.
Good Start Turned Into Wastage Of Public Money
The company got an amazing response when they started the project. They did not charge any fare for the first 10 days. Later, the company started charging Rs. 15 for travelling from the railway station to India gate and gradually the number of passengers started decreasing.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, local bodies minister visited the residents and the residents demanded that the bus fare should be decreased. Navjot Singh Sidhu assured the residents that he would look into the matter.
Sunil Dutta, a local MLA said that BRTS project should be reviewed as it is a wastage of the public money.
As per sources, there are just 14 buses running on two routes and more than 50 buses are not operating and are parked in the bus terminal at the Batala Road Bypass. The parked buses would start operating after the under-construction is completed. The under-construction route is from Railway station to the bus stand. The officials of the company said that the number of passengers is increasing with the increase in temperature during the day time. The officials said that all the buses are equipped with ACs and the passengers prefer travelling in AC buses because of the scorching heat.
Image Source = Tribune India
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