Mohalla buses, development of ISBTs, adding electric buses--Delhi Budget’s focus on transport sector

A 'mohalla bus' scheme to ensure last mile-connectivity, inclusion of more electric buses and development of three ISBTs with airport-like facilities were some of the key announcements made by Delhi Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot for the transport sector in the city budget on Wednesday.

Presenting his first budget, Gahlot announced an allocation of over Rs 9,337 crore for transport, roads and bridges, a decrease from last year's allocation of Rs 9,539 core.

While commencing the announcements for the transport sector, the minister cited the words of former Mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Petro 'A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it is where the rich use public transportation'. Petro is also a major thinker in the field of sustainable urban development. ''This (Petro's) statement is very important in relation to the vision of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the work done in the public transport sector of Delhi in the last eight years. If India is to be developed, we have to modernise the public transport system of all big cities to such an extent that even the rich people feel comfortable and proud to use it,'' Gahlot said.

The government has plans to construct 1,400 new and modern bus queue shelters (BQS) across the national capital. ''Besides providing a comfortable waiting area for bus commuters, these bus shelters will also have a static display of bus routes and digital screens displaying the arrival time of buses. In view of the G20 summit in Delhi, we will complete this work in a phased manner,'' he said.

Gahlot, who also holds the transport portfolio, elaborated on the scientific route rationalisation study carried out by the transport department, and how it has laid out extensive set of last-mile connectivity routes that will connect all the major nodes of Delhi's metro and bus network with residential colonies, commercial complexes and habitations across the city. ''For the first time in the history of Delhi, a dedicated last-mile connectivity scheme called 'mohalla bus' scheme will be launched next year. Only smaller electric buses of 9m length will be deployed on these routes. The fare collection mechanism in these buses will be integrated with the rest of the public transport system through the common mobility card or One Delhi card,'' he added.

Starting with 100 fully electric 'mohalla buses' in the coming year, a total of 2,180 such buses will ply on the city roads in the next three years to fix this critical gap in last-mile connectivity, he said.

Gahlot said there are 7,379 buses in Delhi which is the highest in the history of the city. ''These buses ply on more than 600 bus routes in Delhi. Of these, 300 are electric buses and by the end of the year, their number will be 1,900 (1,800 buses 12m long and 100 buses 9m long), reducing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by approximately 1,07 lakh tonnes. By the end of 2023, Delhi will have the largest fleet of electric buses among all states/UTs of the country,'' he asserted during his budget speech.

Laying out the roadmap, he said by 2025, Delhi will have a fleet of 10,480 buses.

''But our vision is not limited to just increasing the number of buses, but to make it a green mode of travel, that is, completely pollution-free. Therefore, by 2025, 80 per cent of the bus fleet in Delhi or 8,280 buses will be electric, making it one of the largest among all cities globally. As a result, approximately 4.6 lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions will be reduced every year,'' noted the minister. The anticipated expenditure for the induction plan of electric buses over the next 12 years is Rs 28,556 crore.

''I propose an allocation of Rs 3,500 crore for Delhi government bus services towards the next financial year,'' he added.

The new buses are factory-fitted with GPS, three CCTV cameras and 10 panic buttons, which operate in real-time communication with state-of-the-art centralised Command and Control Centre operating out of Kashmere Gate, thus ensuring women passengers are safe.

The government is also working on a major upgradation in the upstream electricity grid, drawing high-tension power lines and setting up of sub-stations at each of the bus depots.

''In this direction, we have started the work of electrification of all 57 bus depots in Delhi on a war footing. Out of this, three depots are already electrified and 17 bus depots will be electrified by June 2023. All 57 bus depots will be electrified by December 2023,'' he shared.

The Delhi government will spend around Rs 1,500 crore on the electrification of bus depots.

The government will also be undertaking the development of three world-class ISBTs. The ISBTs at Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan along with RRTS and railway station nearby cater to lakhs of people daily.

''The Delhi government has partnered with DMRC to redevelop these two ISBTs through PPP model with top class amenities at par with airports. So these redeveloped ISBTs can very well be called 'Bus Ports'. Besides providing a host of amenities to commuters, these Bus Ports shall also have commercial complexes that will also help generate employment for people,'' he said.

Apart from this, a new world-class ISBT at Dwarka will also come up.

Delhi will soon have two unique multi-level bus depots at Hari Nagar and Vasant Vihar, he said.

''Being developed in partnership with NBCC, these will be first multi-level bus depots anywhere in India, and where buses can be parked up to six levels. Besides increasing the capacity of bus parking, these multi-level depots will also offer prime commercial space to further boosting our economic activity and generating employment,'' Gahlot said.

The government also proposed to construct two modern bus terminals in collaboration with the DMRC at Nehru Place and Najafgarh with the promise of renovation of the remaining ons too.

He also shared that the construction of nine new bus depots is in full swing and shall be completed in the next year.

Nearly 1.04 lakh electric vehicles (EV) have been registered till February this year while Rs 145 crore of EV subsidy disbursed. The government will soon roll out mobile application-based Premium Bus Aggregator Scheme for Buses and Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme for 2W,3W, 4W and Premium Buses.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)