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Mohalla Bus Service: The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi is likely to roll out its ambitious Mohalla bus service within a month. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said a committee has been formed to inspect an approved prototype of the bus which has already been approved .
“The inspection of the bus is already going on at Manesar in accordance with the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR). The minister has also formed a committee to inspect the bus in terms of the specifications required by the department,” an official privy to the development told news agency PTI.
He said the process is expected to be completed by July 7 and the buses will be given a week-long trial run on the roads after clearances.
“This will take a fortnight. We hope to complete this process by July 7. Following these clearances, the buses will be put on the roads for trial for a week,” he said, adding that after the trials, orders will be placed with the concerned company.
Officials from DIMTS, DTC and the transport department are part of the committee which is inspecting the buses.
“It depends on the production of these buses by the company. As soon as we receive the first lot, we plan to roll out the scheme,” he added.
The Delhi government, under its ambitious Mohalla Bus Scheme, aims to deploy nine-metre-long electric buses to provide neighbourhood or feeder bus services. As per initial plans, 2,180 such buses are planned to be rolled by 2025.
The Mohalla buses will specifically cater to areas having narrow roads or which witness overcrowding, officials said.
They said the Mohalla buses will have a blue and green colour combination with ‘Mohalla Bus’ written on them.
Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the Mohalla buses have 23 passenger seats and are designed for shorter routes within Delhi, serving as a vital mode of first and last-mile connectivity for commuters.
Officials said 25 percent seats in the buses will be pink, reserved exclusively for women who will also get free rides through ‘Pink passes’.
“Mohalla buses will help boost first and last-mile connectivity for the people, particularly in areas where the standard 12-metre buses face operational challenges due to their size and turning radius,” they said.
Earlier, in March this year, Gahlot had inspected a prototype of a nine-metre Mohalla bus at the Rajghat bus depot and travelled on it to attend the assembly budget session.
Delhi aims to have a total of 10,480 buses by the end of 2025, out of which 80 per cent will be electric.
(With PTI inputs)
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