(Left) BI Singal, director-general of the Institute of Urban Transport interacts with officials of the state urban development department during the workshop on sustainable urban transport in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 25: City bus commuters can hope for extended bliss by year-end. But before you celebrate, get ready to pay more as city bus fares have been hiked.

After adding 60 more buses to the existing fleet by December end, the Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) will add two hours to the current schedule of city buses.

Instead of the present 7am to 9pm schedule, BPTSL will operate the buses from 6am to 10pm.

Municipal commissioner and chief executive officer of BPTSL Sanjib Kumar Mishra said: “The new timings will come into force immediately after we get the extra buses. At present, 125 buses ply on 17 routes covering Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda.”

Mishra made this announcement on the sidelines of the inaugural function of the three-day capacity building programme for government officials on urban transport that started today.

He also hinted at increasing the routes under the city bus service.

The state government, meanwhile, has notified a hike in city bus fares. While the minimum fare within three kilometres has been increased from the present Rs 5 to Rs 6, for a distance of more than 30km, the earlier rate of Rs 37 has become Rs 43. The rates are likely to become effective from October 1.

City bus operators Dream Team Sahara had written a letter to the state government in the first week of September. They had mentioned that the company had suffered a loss of Rs 3.75 crore in the last fiscal. The hike in diesel price alone had cost them Rs 1.57 crore. They had threatened to end the contract if a hike was not considered.

This is the second hike in the city bus fares since the services began on October 10, 2010. The first hike was notified a year ago.

Sipu Das, a student staying in Chandrasekharpur, said the extended hours for the city bus service was a welcome step but the hike would affect students.

“The bus operators had promised to introduce monthly passes for students and daily commuters, but they are yet to do it. They should start it immediately,” he said.

On the other hand, vice-chairman of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority Vishal Kumar Dev said the urban transport sector was set to witness a transformation with the state government planning to have at least two bus rapid transport service routes in the city.

He said the preliminary work for a survey had been initiated by the state government for a metro and a consultant would be engaged shortly for a feasibility study in the Bhubaneswar development plan area. The report would then be submitted to the Centre.

The three-day programme would educate and inform nearly 100 government officials from the four municipal corporations and major municipalities of Odisha. The know-how will help them prepare comprehensive mobility plan of their respective civic bodies.