Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged off 100 non-AC electric buses of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and announced that the STU will induct 1,400 e-buses by April next year.
The 100 buses are part of the 921 non-AC Tata e-buses being inducted under the Centre’s FAME 2 (Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) scheme. As per the understanding, BMTC will deploy conductors and pay Tata Motors Rs 41 per km. The 12-meter e-buses, have 400mm floor height, and can cover 200km on a full charge.
He mentioned that under the Shakti scheme launched by the State government, which provides for free bus transport to women, almost 120 crore rides have been availed by the beneficiaries.
“A total of 40 lakh people travel on BMTC every day. In this, women of all castes, all religions and all walks of life are travelling for free,” he said.
The new e-buses have been added to promote public transport services and also curb increasing vehicular pollution in the city.
“Due to our guarantees, the purchasing power of people and the economic activity of the state is also increasing. These schemes save a lot of money for labourers, farmers and women. They use that money for other needs of their family. Thus, the economic power of millions of families is also increasing,” said Siddaramaiah.
Meanwhile, the BMTC in a statement said that Advance Driver Assistance System (ADAS) is being implemented in 10 buses to create a safe transport system for the passengers and more awareness for the drivers.
“In order to effectively control traffic violation and accident cases caused by drivers, 3,000 drivers are being trained in traffic command and control centre from December with the cooperation of the police department for safe driving and strict adherence to traffic rules,” it stated.
