BHUBANESWAR: The Dream Team Sahara (DTS) city bus service has decided to introduce the Daily Pass system and the smart card facility in the city bus services by June-end. The daily pass system will enable the customer to travel through the 12 routes of the city bus service by taking only one ticket that
will be valid in all 105 city buses.
“The customer will have to buy the pass from the bus depot or the conductor. The ticket would suit those who have to use the city bus service frequently in a day,” said DTS chairman Nishikant Misra.
They will also launch a smart card that can also be bought at the bus depot and from the conductors. The smart card will be priced at a minimum of ` 300. With every bus travel, the conductor will charge the bus fare by debiting the amount in the ticket machine.
“The smart card can be recharged by the conductor. Whenever the passenger wants, he can ask the conductor to recharge the smart card with the desired amount,” said Misra.
DTS will also launch its website in the beginning of June. The passenger can avail of details like the bus routes and timings from the website. They can also file complaints and give feedback through the website.
Though the DTS has plans for expansion and more facilities, it incurred a loss of Rs 25 lakh in the 2011-12 fiscal.
“We are losing revenue on three counts. There has been no fare revision for our services during the past six months. Moreover, there is ban on advertisements on the buses and even after 19 months of operation we still do not have a single Original Destination terminus (ODT),” informed Misra.
Ideally, there should be a OD terminus at the beginning and end of the journey. With the city bus services plying through 12 routes, currently there is a need for 24 ODTs. “But the government has not provided us with even one ODT,” said Misra.