The Delhi government approved a 10-per cent discount in the fares of the DTC and cluster buses on Saturday on tickets purchased through its e-ticketing mobile application. The city government's contact less e-ticketing app, which also shows the expected time of arrival (ETA) of buses and information about the nearest available electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, is available in both English and Hindi.
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot hailed the decision as a "welcome step, especially in the middle of the ongoing (COVID-19) pandemic, to reduce spread through surface contact".
"When we launched the Common Mobility Card in 2018, we saw a large number of private car users shift to public transport. I am hoping that the state-of-the-art buses, with increased surveillance and safety features and right incentives like the ones we are offering through e-ticketing apps and the Common Mobility card, will be a much-needed push for Delhiites to adopt public transport as their default mode of transport," a statement quoted him as saying.
With surveillance and tracking in all buses being monitored by a centralised command-and-control centre, pushing for smarter modes of ticketing will be a crucial step in data management and monitoring.
"This move is also expected to save revenue on printing, storage, manpower and the data-storage mechanism. The department also envisages app-based ticketing to help in the generation of a better passenger on-boarding data that can be analysed to rationalise routes and better services for the passengers," the statement said.
Delhi, which has a combined fleet size (DTC and cluster) of 6,750 buses, witnesses an average daily ridership of 49 lakh passengers, it noted.
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