Bhubaneswar: Mo Bus has service crossed a daily ridership of 1 lakh on Sunday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on November 6 last year had inaugurated the bus service.
Mo Bus, the public transit service run by Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), has established itself as a major mass transit facility in the capital region.
CRUT officials said that a total of 101881 passengers availed the bus service on Sunday. “The usual footfall is around 80000 per day. Mo Bus ridership used to be around 70000 till the month of August. After the amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act, there was a sudden rise in ridership touching around 97,000 passengers on September 6 and around 94,000 on September 8. However, it is very heartening to see that Mo Bus has been able to retain those commuters,” said General Manager, Personnel and Administration & spokesperson, CRUT, Dipti Mahapatro.
The number of passengers using the bus service had come down to 35000 after cyclone Fani. “In the month of May, our ridership was around 33000 and revenue also came down to Rs 5 lakhs. Credit for this milestone goes to the riders who have trusted in us from the beginning of service and gave us constant feedback for improvement,” added Mahapatro.
Currently, the bus service has a fleet of 200 buses. Officials said that another 50 old buses will be added to the fleet after refurbishment and the work for this has already been started.
“As many as 50 electric buses (E-buses) have been sanctioned by the Department of Heavy Industry under FAME India scheme phase II for intra-city and intercity operation to give a push to clean mobility in public transportation,” said a CRUT official.
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