Bhubaneswar/Lucknow: ‘Mo Bus’ of Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) was adjudged the Best City Bus Service Project at the 12th Urban Mobility Conference organised by Union Ministry of Urban Development in Lucknow on Sunday.
The award came a day after the Odisha government’s initiative to provide safe and affordable public transport service was acknowledged by over 1000 delegates at the national event held from November 15 to 17.
The dignitaries also proposed to emulate Mo Bus services in other states. “All STUs (State Transport Undertaking) must learn from CRUT, Bhubaneswar. In spite of the damages incurred in Odisha after FANI, it is commendable that they have achieved 1 lakh ridership in just five months,” said Surendra Kumar Bagde, General Manager of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
In his presentation on Saturday, CRUT Managing Director Arun Bothra had compared ‘Mo Bus’ with metro rail in other states. He said that metro should be made in big cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi only. “We need buses not metros in smaller cities.”
He said that Mo Bus had touched a remarkable feat of 1 lakh ridership in less than one year of operation.
Consumer-friendly initiatives like ‘Freedom Monthly Pass’, ‘Newspaper on Wheels’ and installation of maps and route numbers at Bus Queue Shelters (BQS) were appreciated by riders, he said, adding that ‘Introduction of Night Out schedule’ at Cuttack had helped in saving substantially by eliminating dead kilometres.
He further added that public transport like Mo Bus is a service for the people while making an endeavour to minimize the carbon footprints.
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