Residents of small towns and villages in the state could have a bus service to connect to Patna. Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) is planning to expand its fleet with the help of private operators.
Transport minister Brishen Patel told The Telegraph: “We believe that we would be able to expand the bus transport system to remote villages and towns across the state when we have sufficient buses at our disposal.”
But the BSRTC does not have sufficient number of buses at present.
“Hence, we want to have a fleet of 500 buses, apart from the 200 run by the corporation in a PPP (public-private partnership) mode. These would be owned by the BSRTC,” said the minister.
At present, BSRTC operates 200 buses in PPP mode.
Sources said it would reach out to private operators to run the fleet of existing and new buses. In this scheme, the operator would procure the buses, run and maintain them according to an agreement period.
BSRTC would obtain the permit for the operation of buses. All the buses would have to be new — manufactured between 2009 and 2012. Those operators who procure 2012 models would be eligible for a subsidy on the prices of buses. Sources said BSRTC has received a number of applications from private operators, who want to run the buses for the corporations. The agreements would be finalised by June-end.
A private operator told The Telegraph: “Running buses with BSRTC is a win-win situation for us as well as the passengers. The number of passengers in the BSRTC buses is much higher than others. Also, if we operate our buses in partnership with BSRTC, we would not face difficulties in entering towns. We would also be able to avail of the various benefits provided by BSRTC, including parking in depots.”
Sources said apart from the existing BSRTC bus terminals or depots, the operators would also be able to park the vehicles at the 14 proposed upgraded bus terminals across the state.
BSRTC intends to develop its 14 existing bus depots as modern terminal-cum-commercial complexes at Patna (Bankipore), Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Chhapra, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur. At present many of these depots are either dilapidated or just vacant sites.
