Gurugram’s bus service sees jump in ridership, ticket revenue

Earnings and passenger count for September 7 are slated to be higher with the service having raked in ₹41,061 in ticketing revenue during Friday’s morning shift, which lasted from 6am to 2pm.

Gurugram On September 6, four days after its launch, the Gurugaman bus service had its busiest day so far with a ridership of 4,948 passengers, Arun Sharma, general manager (administration), Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), said. Officials said the data of the first week will be analysed to implement any changes, if required, to improve the service in the coming days.

On September 6, four days after its launch, the Gurugaman bus service had its busiest day so far with a ridership of 4,948 passengers.(Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Earnings and passenger count for September 7 are slated to be higher with the service having raked in ₹41,061 in ticketing revenue during Friday’s morning shift, which lasted from 6am to 2pm, Sharma said. Data for the whole day had not been calculated till late on Friday.

The new bus service was launched by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on September 2 with a fleet of 25 buses, plying on a route connecting Basai Chowk to Huda City Centre. More buses will be introduced in different phases by next year on 11 routes.

A survey in 2017 by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), which is a consultant on the city bus project, pegged daily ridership levels on the Basai Chowk to Huda City Centre route at an estimated 17,908 passengers per day. The bus service was launched on this route as it connects Old Gurugram to New Gurugram, and is a step forward in making Huda City Centre a multimodal transport hub, officials said.

September 6 was also the most profitable day since the launch of the bus service, as it raked in ₹74,250 in ticketing revenue. While Sharma did not reveal the earnings between September 2 and September 5, GMCBL officials at the Sector 10 depot, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the service raked in only around ₹2,000 in ticketing revenue on the day of launch, from a few hundred passengers. By September 5, ticket sales swelled to more than ₹40,000.

Sharma did not share passenger volume data from September 2 to September 5, but said, “It will be put up on the website soon, as we will be making all details completely transparent.”

“Despite some complaints received from passengers, data shows that daily ridership is increasing substantially,” said Amit Itkari, general manager, DIMTS.

He added that a vigilance team was closely monitoring the service’s progress. “We will also be conducting a survey depending on the first week’s performance data and suggesting improvements, such as minor route and schedule changes,” Itkari said, adding that the service would take around three months to stabilise.

Itkari also said that conductors are playing an important role in this process and are helping people learn how to avail of the service. “We have told them to help passengers, be their guides and do more than just issue tickets so they can comfortably adjust to this new service,” Itkari said.

Sharma said that GMCBL is considering providing incentives for good driving and behaviour on part of the bus drivers and conductors in the future.

Digital ticketing

The GMCBL is also trying to introduce digital ticketing facility, which was initially supposed to be launched on September 7. On Friday, Sharma said that the GMCBL was busy completing the formalities with partner banks so that the service can be “hopefully be rolled out on Monday.”

The GMCBL has partnered with both state and private banks, as well as the National Payments Corporation of India for this service, which will allow passengers to pay for tickets via debit cards, smart cards and digital wallets. Commuters paying digitally will also be offered discounts. Instead of the standard fare of ₹10 for a ride up to 5 stops, ₹20 for travel between 6 to 20 stops, and ₹30 beyond 20 stops, digital tickets will be priced at ₹8, ₹18 and ₹28 respectively.