PANAJI:
Despite a marginal slide in footfalls since going digital for fare payments, the 'Smart City' e-bus service in the capital city and to its peripheral suburbs will continue its march to go conductor-less in its operations, according to Sanjit Rodrigues, the managing director and CEO of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL).
Rodrigues said, the services are gaining traction and people are increasingly accepting the digital mode of payment on these e-bus services.
"Ridership and revenue are both gradually increasing on all the seven routes," Rodrigues who addressed the media on Tuesday said, adding that since inception in July last year, these 48 buses have served 16.19 lakh passengers.
The intra-city e-bus services are part of the smart city mission and an effort to clean up and make public transport an efficient mode of travel.
Rodrigues said the e-buses service, which is being operated by the State-owned Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) under a MoU, has had a consistently ascending trajectory month-on-month.
"The monthly revenue earned in July last year when the e-bus service was launched was Rs 6.49 lakh which has grown to Rs 27.24 lakh in March this year," Rodrigues said, adding that the digital payment mode is also gaining traction among commuters.
He said as of date, 34% of the total revenue was being generated digitally while 65% still comes in cash but it is a transitional phase and the service will eventually go fully digital.
Rodrigues also said that on three of the seven routes, the e-buses are running without a 'conductor' on board, adding that if passengers insist on cash payments, the money is collected by the driver.
"Soon we are readying to make the e-bus services on all the seven routes conductor-less," Rodrigues added.
