Gurugram, Nov 27 : To accelerate infrastructure development to support seamless public transport services in city A. Sreenivas, Chief Executive Officer of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), chaired a review meeting of the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by senior officers of GMCBL and officials of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Ltd.

Matters pertaining to the expansion of fleet size, identification and addition of new bus routes to cater to larger passenger volumes, digital ticketing and smart payment solutions, ensuring regular monitoring and checks, CCTV surveillance, maintenance and upkeep of the buses were discussed.

'A robust public transport network is a key catalyst for rapid urban growth and sustainable development of a Smart City. GMDA is working towards strengthening the city bus structure in Gurugram & improving day-to-day operational efficiency for the benefit of the public at large. Phase-wise development to boost the civic infrastructure among the rapidly growing areas of Gurugram is being taken up to cater to the increasing ridership in the future,' said A. Sreenivas, CEO of GMDA.

GMDA will soon undertake the work of construction of a new Bus Depot in Sector 48, Gurugram. Additionally, the Authority will also develop 154 additional bus queue shelters to enhance the existing civic infrastructure and to facilitate better public transport services in the city. The three works have been allotted to the agency.

The bus depot at Sector-48 will be developed on 7.5 acres of land for Rs 17 crore and will accommodate up to 100 e-buses, which are to be added to the existing fleet of the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited. The depot will be equipped with an electric substation to provide optimum charging stations for the electric buses.

Moreover, to cater to the increasing passenger base in Gurugram, GMDA will also develop new bus-queue shelters wherein 80 new bus-queue shelters in sectors 68 to 95 from Southern Peripheral Road to Northern Peripheral Road will be constructed for 17.95 Crore. Additionally, 74 new bus queue shelters in sector 99-115, along Upper Dwarka Expressway, will be developed for Rs 15.82 crores.

The provision of bus lay-bye in these BQS, wherever feasible has been included to avoid any hindrance to the ongoing traffic and vehicle movement on the main carriageway.

A dedicated space for bus stoppage will be provided in these BQS which will also enable greater safety for the passengers boarding and disembarking from these buses.

GMCBL currently operate in Gurugram along 25 routes, and 50 buses are operational in Faridabad. Additionally, to further strengthen the fleet size, the Authority plans to induct 700 electric AC buses in the next 3 years, which will make the fleet of city buses to 900 by 2027-28.

With the augmentation of the bus fleet size, new bus routes will also be added to cater to the public transport requirements of the citizens. Hence, parallel development of the bus depot bus queue shelters is being taken up by GMDA to set up the required infrastructure to ensure seamless bus service in the future

/IANS