Aam aadmi bus service scores big, records 5,500 ridership on day 1

With ridership recorded at 5,500 on the first day of the introduction of the ‘Aam Aadmi Bypass Express’ service, the DTC officials said that the public response has been “very good” on the newly introduced route.

 “It has happened for the first time that a newly opened route gets such an overwhelming response on the first day. This shows that there was a need for buses on this route,” said a senior DTC official.

 The average daily ridership of DTC is around 35 lakh.
 The Delhi government had started the dry run of the ‘Aam Aadmi Bypass Express’ service between Sarai Kale Khan and Uttam Nagar on Monday.

 The 40-km route connects three National Highways and four metro rail lines. The buses passing through Mukarba Chowk connect NH1, those passing through Nizamuddin connect NH24, and those from Peera Garhi connect NH10.

 According to data with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), the total revenue collected from the 20 buses that plied on the new route was Rs 1.16 lakh on Monday. This means that the average earning per bus was at around Rs 5,800, more than the overall average revenue per day which stands at Rs 5,500, said the official.

 “These buses will act as feeder buses for those taking interstate buses for travelling to Rohtak or Punjab. We will also run an advertisement campaign for these and there are very good chances of them getting more popular,” the official said. 

Ten low-floor AC buses and 10 non-AC buses are plying on normal fare on the route that covers the east-west corridor in south Delhi. The DTC officials claim that these have improved frequency as commuters can get a bus in 6-12 minutes on the route. 

Buses on this route will operate between Uttam Nagar Terminal and Sarai Kale Khan ISBT via Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Majnu ka Tila, Kashmere Gate ISBT, Yamuna Bazar, Geeta Colony, Outer Ring Road up to Wazirabad.

 Incidentally, the DTC also saw the highest overall revenue in the last one month on Monday of Rs 2.82 crore.

 “This can also be because we have started running 95 per cent buses in the morning hours instead of 92 per cent which were happening before,” he said.