BHUBANESWAR: Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) on Sunday launched the ‘Newspaper on Wheels’ initiative in which passengers of ‘Mo Bus’ will be provided with copies of newspapers during their commute.
CRUT, the public transport provider in the City, has joined hands with ‘The New Indian Express’ for the initiative. Senior IPS officer and CRUT MD Arun Bothra, who launched the initiative, said newspapers will be made available for passengers in ‘Mo Buses’ from Sunday.
“Initially, it is an English daily for AC buses. Soon all buses will have this facility. Odia newspapers will also be made available in all the buses shortly,” said Bothra.
Currently, around 200 ‘Mo Buses’ are plying on 20 different routes in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri. As many as 70,000 passengers commute in the buses on a daily basis.
CRUT General Manager (Personnel and Administration) Dipti Mahapatra said they are aiming to connect the maximum number of passengers with the new service. “The initiative will not only increase reading habit among passengers but also prevent them from unnecessary use of smart phones during bus journey,” Mahapatra said.
CRUT is also contemplating to start mobile libraries in the buses soon, she said.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the CRUT started imposing fines on ticket-less passengers travelling in ‘Mo Buses’.
CRUT authorities said passengers found travelling without a ticket or ‘Mo Bus’ pass will have to pay 10 times the legal fare or `500, whichever is less.
Passengers have been asked to cooperate with the ticket checking staff and travel in ‘Mo Buses’ with valid ticket or monthly pass.