Jammu and Kashmir Road Transport Corporation’s e-Buses plying on Jammu city roads and its peripheral areas have received overwhelming response from the people then the private public response here in the winter capital.
At least 20 buses ply on different routes of Jammu City, Samba, RS Pura, Akhnoor, Kotbalwal, Bathindi, Sunjwan – service within 100 km of limits on daily basis, whereas demand from passengers has increased for more e-buses even as hundreds of private mini-buses in routine ply on the jam-packed city roads. The e-buses need to charge after every 100 kms.
The mini-buses usually are congested and crowded with the passengers while the e-buses are spacious and safer for women and elderly passengers which have become the feature of the buses being admired more by the people.
“We wait for the RTC buses to come to Sunjwan and prefer to travel on the e-buses plying on the route. Other mini-buses have no proper sitting capacity, they are usually over-loaded and women passengers avoid boarding to crowded mini-buses,” said a youth, Mohammed Rizban.
Rizban along with his mother was going to GMC Hospital at Bakshi Nagar.
With a sitting capacity of 31 passengers, officials told Greater Kashmir they had started e-bus services for Jammu City as well as Srinagar City and peripheral areas.
“We have brought 40 buses in J&K for city areas including 20 each for Jammu and Srinagar Districts. We have received encouraging responses from the people since they face uncomfortable situations in other private transport and they see RTC e-buses as a comfortable and safer means of public transport,” said a senior official in the RTC