SAMBALPUR: The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) will introduce 10 hi-tech buses on five new routes from Western Odisha soon.
The buses will connect Sambalpur, Kalahandi and Jharsuguda with Ganjam, Kandhamal besides, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
The new routes are Burla-Polasara-Burla, Sambalpur-Baliguda-Sambalpur, Jharsuguda-Daringibadi-Jharsuguda, Sambalpur-Bhawanipatna-Sambalpur and Sambalpur-Visakhapatnam-Sambalpur.
The hi-tech buses are likely to ply on the new routes by the end of September this year.
District Transport Manager (DTM) of Sambalpur, Rajendra Pujari said the 10 new hi-tech buses will be procured by the OSRTC authorities.
People of the region have been demanding plying of Government buses on the above-mentioned routes for a long time. Each bus will have a sitting capacity of 41 passengers, he informed.
Currently, 33 OSRTC buses are running under the jurisdiction of office of DTM, Sambalpur.
Of the total 33 OSRTC buses, 27 buses are plying on the long-distance routes including Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Sunabeda while six buses are running within Sambalpur district.
Pujari said OSRTC buses are receiving good response from commuters.
Currently, at least 1,300 passengers travel in 33 OSRTC buses daily and the new buses will give a boost to public transport, he added.
“If the new buses get good response we will initiate steps to run air-conditioned buses on the five routes," he said.
With the plying of newly procured OSRTC buses including running of air-conditioned buses in some routes, commuters prefer OSRTC buses to private buses these days.