The civic body’s attempt to get 100 e-buses under the PM e-Bus Seva Scheme has evoked a mixed response from city residents.
While some are optimistic and are looking forward to integration of e-buses into the public transport infrastructure and are of the view that it will resonate with broader environmental goals, others are miffed and believe it will be a failure if authorities don’t shift auto-rickshaws from prominent routes to secondary routes before the launch.
The residents are mulling writing to the MC commissioner and officials concerned to look into the same as earlier the city bus service had failed due to poor planning.
A resident of Sarabha Nagar, Rahul Verma, said, “The central government is funding the buses so we should definitely avail the opportunity. However, the authorities should buy more of small buses to avoid causing traffic congestion. The service will only be successful if the auto rickshaws don’t ply on the primary routes.”
Another resident from Haibowal, Shivani Sood, said, “The buses should be made available on all main routes of the city so that they are accessible to all.”
Meanwhile, a resident from Model Town, Jaskirat Singh, said, “The public transport system should be advanced and available to all if the intention is to decongest the city roads.”
Amid Covid, a city bus was converted into a Covid testing van, but it has been lying defunct for a while at the bus depot on Hambran Road. MC chief Sandeep Rishi said they might hand over the bus to civil surgeon office for mobile testing.
