People of Mysuru may have to wait till the year-end to commute on zero-emission buses on the intracity routes as the 100 e-buses allotted under the PM e-Bus Sewa project are expected to arrive by September or October.
With the launch of Shakti – free bus rides for women, the passenger load in KSRTC buses has gone up substantially, and the authorities have sought additional buses to handle the increasing passenger traffic. They are hoping that the e-buses may ease pressure if added to the existing fleet.
Out of 120 electric buses that were originally planned for allocation for urban mobility here, 100 buses have been reportedly finalised and are likely to be added to the fleet which may help strengthen the public transport network and extend the services to many localities beyond the outer ring road (ORR).
PM e-Bus Sewa was launched to encourage eco-friendly modes of public transport and improve urban mobility. The project is under Green Urban Mobility Initiative (GUMI).
The project is being implemented under the Public-Private Partnership model with financial support from the Centre. The arrival of the new buses was awaited since many existing buses in the Mysuru KSRTC division are being phased out after having completed 15 years. Such buses cannot hit the roads after exceeding their running capacity as per the Central government norms. This has led to an urgent need for new buses with the passenger load going up by two folds post-Shakti launch.
When contacted, Divisional Controller (Mysuru city KSRTC division) Veeresh H.T. said, “We have information that e-buses are expected to be made available to Mysuru by this year-end. The process is on and we don’t have exact details on when the buses will hit the roads.”
However, to ease pressure on the services, around 45-50 buses are expected to be given to the city. “We are awaiting the buses which are expected to ease pressure for the time being and help in streamlining the existing services.”
Under GUMI, the identified cities will also be getting charging infrastructure because of a big promotion to e-mobility. One of the key reasons for the adoption of e-mobility initiatives was to bring down noise and air pollution and curb carbon emissions. The push to bus-based ‘green’ public transportation was aimed at reducing the green-house gas emissions.
Inter-city operations of electric buses was launched last year. The electric bus rides between Mysuru and Bengaluru was launched in January last year and the response to the rides has been overwhelming.
KSRTC received the prototype of the electric bus under the FAME-2 scheme in December 2022. The electric bus has been named as ‘EV-Power Plus’. It later inducted more electric buses, and deployed them on various routes, including Madikeri, Shivamogga, Davanagere and other key cities.
The commuters here are seeking more buses in tune with the demand for the services, and innovation in services like exploring unexplored routes, doubling frequency on popular routes and during peak hours, for the convenience of the travelling public.
