Rs 5-ride on Mercedes Benz buses for 3 days

Rs 5-ride on Mercedes Benz buses for 3 days


Express News Service First Published : 29 Aug 2010 01:51:51 AM ISTLast Updated : 29 Aug 2010 09:50:42 AM IST
BANGALORE: In an attempt to woo the city crowd to opt for public transport system, Transport Minister R Ashok flagged off the Mercedes Benz buses at Shantinagar bus station on Saturday.
"Public transport system should gain momentum in the city and more people should opt for public mode of transport. With such initiatives, we are offering commuters international standards of transport," he said.
The minister said the minimum fare for the first three days (trial run) would be Rs 5. He said after that, fares similar to Vayu Vajra and Vajra would be applicable.
Besides this, the minister said he wanted to extend such services to other districts of north Karnataka.
"Districts such as Bellary, Koppal, Raichur, Gangavati and other north Karnataka districts will also have hitech city buses. We are in discussion with the state (government) and the final decision will be taken soon," he said.
The minister also said that the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which undertook the trial run of the Benz buses on BangaloreMysore route, would get its first fleet of 10 buses by mid September and another 40 multi-axle Benz buses by October end.
He also revealed that the Volvo bus service was making profit in the city, as they had already crossed their set target for the month of May. "We have achieved the financial target for the month of May and we can say that the Volvo buses are making profit. In fact, they are doing much better than their counterparts in Mumbai or Chennai," he said.
The Benz buses' trial run will conclude on September 26, following which, the transport department will assess the success of the run, based on the overall performance.
Each Benz bus has cost the department Rs 65 lakh. Presently, the BMTC has 432 Volvo buses, which according to sources, has caused the transport department a loss in crores of rupees. But the minister has claimed otherwise.