The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) introduced a month ago has shown signs of settling down in terms of passenger turnover and revenue earning considering the limited route length and upscale areas the buses pass through. The revenue has jumped from Rs 78,500 a day on October 15 to Rs 94,000 on Saturday. Except on Sundays,the number of passengers has remained constantly over 15,000 and even crossed 20,000 on certain days,suggest official figures released on Saturday. After the initial income of Rs 78,500,there was a dip to Rs 46,080 on the fourth day itself. The number of passengers that day was only 9,840. But it was a one-off instance and revenues kept on the higher side of Rs 80,000 from October 26 onwards except on November 1,figures tell. In the last three days,over 21,000 passengers have boarded BRT buses daily,in which case the revenue may cross Rs 1 lakh in the coming week. Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam said the public acceptance is encouraging,and once the route extends to Kankaria by December-end,there will be a dramatic increase in revenue and passengers. This will bring down congestion,as the people will use the BRT to go to Gita Mandir area. Meanwhile,former mayor of Bogota,Columbia,Enrique Penalosa and his team visited the city to have a feel of the BRTS ride so that Transmillenia (the BRT system in Bogota) could be readjusted to match the unique features of Ahmedabad BRT operations. Penalosa expressed immense satisfaction over the quality of operations and service on the BRT route and was all praise for it, said Deputy Municipal Commissioner U C Padia,in-charge of BRT project,who accompanied the Colombian team on the ride.
