Cuttack residents enjoy a free ride on a city bus on Tuesday. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 17: The recent hike in petrol price has started to affect the common man but 27-year-old Pradip Behera can still afford a smile.

Behera, a young professional, has now found an alternative means of transportation in the form of the city bus service that will not only save time but also money.

“I used to spend Rs 50 a day to travel to Bhubaneswar from my house at CDA. As petrol price has touched nearly Rs 65 a litre, it is not possible for me to use my motorcycle to travel to Bhubaneswar everyday,” said Behera.

Luckily, he can now depend on the city bus service that was inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday.

“I had boarded the bus to check the time it takes to reach Bhubaneswar so that I can plan my trip for the next day. I was happy that I can easily depend on the city bus service which will not only save time but also money as the cost of transportation will be Rs 50 a day,” Behera added.

Though many private buses and buses of Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) are already operating between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the city bus service has certainly come handy for hundreds of office-goers, students and other commuters.

“We were facing problems as there was no proper timing of the buses and it usually took more than an hour to reach Bhubaneswar due to the number of stoppages. Though the city bus service is costly compared to other private buses, we do not mind paying a few extra rupees for better service,” said a student.

A commuter has to spend a maximum of Rs 25 to travel from Biju Patnaik Park to Bhubaneswar for using the new city bus service while the minimum fare has been pegged at Rs 4.

Similarly, a commuter has to pay Rs 20 for using the bus service from Sati Choura while he has to pay Rs 15 to travel to Bhubaneswar from Badambadi.

“The residents of CDA in particular were facing lots of problems as they had to change autorickshaws twice to reach Badambadi to board respective buses to Bhubaneswar. But now we can directly avail city bus service that originates from Biju Patnaik Park area,” said Sarat Chandra Mohanty (60), another commuter from CDA.

The excitement level was high among the commuters who were seen availing the free ride in the new city bus service today.

Ten buses would now run on three routes between the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar as part of the city bus service, which is an extension of the facility that is already in operation in Bhub-aneswar, Puri and Khurda.

Though three routes — Biju Patnaik Park to Indira Gandhi Park in Bhubaneswar, Chahata Ghata to Master Canteen and from Jagatpur Industrial estate to Bhubaneswar — have been finalised, the city bus service has been made operational on the first route only.

“At present, 10 buses are operating on the first route only and subsequently, the facility will soon be extended to other routes which have been finalised,” said Dream Team Sahara CEO Sudhanshu Jena.

The bus service had earlier began in Bhubaneswar as a joint venture of Dream Team Sahara and BPTSL under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission last October.

The first route between Biju Patnaik Park and Indira Gandhi Park would cover Sector-6 of CDA, Eye Hospital, Sati Choura, Ringh Road, Khannagar, Badambadi and Madhupatna.

All possible steps have been taken to ensure comfort and safety of the passengers availing the city bus service. A bus would run every 25 minutes between the twin cities, said Jena.