Buses move into slow lane

While ridership numbers continue to hold course,the Delhi government is doing little to augment the fleet size.

Yet,the government is going all out with a publicity campaign highlighting its achievements in improving the public transport,especially the bus service — it is key to its plans ahead of the Assembly elections later this year.

The publicity apart,the government has admitted that no new DTC buses will be introduced to replace its old fleet this year.

This,sources say,is ironic,considering the emphasis the government has continually laid on popularising public transport to end the city’s dependence on private vehicles.

The government was to roll out 1,000 buses under the cluster scheme by the end of 2012,a target which they are yet to achieve seven months later. Now,they say 450 more would be added to the cluster bus fleet by November this year.

According to a policy decision,11,000 buses were to ply in the city daily. This included the 5,500 buses under the cluster scheme,which is run by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS).

Currently,only 6,039 buses ply in the city daily. These include 1,275 low-floor AC buses,2,506 non-AC buses,1,657 standard buses and 601 buses under the cluster scheme.

According to the government,while four clusters have been operational,paucity of space has led to delays in rolling out the other clusters.

“More buses can be introduced under the cluster scheme once we have space. We have already identified space and 450 buses are expected to be added under different clusters by November,’’ Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami said.

These buses will be added to clusters 6,7,8 and 9.

The cluster scheme was introduced to replace Blueline buses. All bus routes were merged into 17 clusters covering Delhi.

The space to park cluster scheme buses has been identified in existing depots. “Space has been identified in DTC Millennium Depot,DTC Kanjhawla Depot,DTC Central Workshop-I BBM,DTC Central Workshop,Okhla,and DTC Depot in Village Kair,’’ Goswami said.

Once these areas are developed,they will be able to accommodate 700 buses,including the 450,which will be rolled out by November.

But numbers are not all that is missing in the cluster bus scheme. The fleet does not have a single air-conditioned bus till date.

“According to the agreement between transport department and concessionaires of cluster buses,the concessionaires have to induct 20 per cent AC buses. This means that of the 2,143 buses,438 would have to be be air-conditioned. But manufacturers are yet to get the prototype of AC buses (standard floor) approved by certifying agencies,’’ an official said.

As far as DTC buses are concerned,it’s the tendering process which is putting a spanner in the works for introducing more buses.

The DTC is planning to float a global tender for the fifth time to procure new 1,725 buses. These buses will be rolled out only by February 2014 to replace the old fleet.

Sources said only Tata Motors participated in the last tender to procure 625 low-floor buses and the rates quoted were unreasonable.

“On evaluation of the single bid,the price was found to be about 50 per cent higher and maintenance charges were 20 times more than the rates finalised after a global tender in 2008. The quoted rates were not at all justifiable,’’ the official said.

“We have decided to go with standard buses instead of low-floor buses to ensure that more people participate in the bidding process. Central Institute of Road Transport,Pune,has been engaged as our bid management consultant,’’ he said.

The lack of interest shown by local suppliers has prompted the government to consider introducing buses from Poland,Sweden and China.

The transport department has asked manufacturers from the three countries to test their buses in Delhi conditions. “We are in talks with manufacturers from Poland and would want to carry out a trial run to see if these buses can operate in the city,’’ Goswami said.

Predictably,with no new buses on the anvil,the the old ones are taking the brunt of increase in ridership. “The increase in breakdown of low-floor non-AC buses is in the range of 0.4 per 10,000 km — from 2.5 to 2.9 per 10,000 km — on an average per month for the period of January to June in comparison with the same period last year. The breakdown of AC buses has been slightly higher,with 0.99 per 10,000 km — from 4.49 to 5.48 per 10,0000 km — for the same period,” the official said.

“The deputy managers of depots have been instructed to improve maintenance activities,including preventive docking of all buses,’’ Goswami said.