Kasba: Three new air-conditioned buses will ply through Ultadanga and parts of Salt Lake, Sector V and Rajarhat from Friday, providing commuters an alternative to autorickshaw rides that entail dealing with rude drivers and illegal surge pricing.

The buses will operate under the West Bengal Transport Corporation and pass by Ultadanga railway station and the Hudco crossing, two locations where autorickshaws hold sway over commuters during the morning and evening rush.

"The routes have been carefully chosen so that people headed for Salt Lake, Sector V and Rajarhat aren't at the mercy of autorickshaw drivers," said a senior officer of the corporation. "We will put up banners mentioning the routes so that commuters can avail themselves of the new service."

A section of commuters who regularly travel by autorickshaw from Ultadanga station to places in Salt Lake and Rajarhat had recently blocked Ultadanga Main Road in protest against the behaviour of autorickshaw operators and their propensity to arbitrarily raise fares. The protesters lifted the blockade only after senior police officers promised to initiate corrective steps.

At a meeting with representatives of the autorickshaw unions, the police said it was time for the 200-odd drivers operating in Ultadanga to imbibe discipline or face strict action. Sadhan Pande, the minister of consumer affairs, gave voice to the frustration of commuters and said that the government would set up complaint boxes at Ultadanga, Gariahat and Karunamoyee for people harassed by autorickshaw drivers to report incidents.

Air-conditioned city buses passing through Ultadanga and going to Salt Lake and Rajarhat are part of a larger strategy to break the monopoly of arm-twisting autorickshaw operators.

"We hope these buses will be available during the usual office-time rush," said Vishal Mehta, a resident of Dum Dum who regularly takes autorickshaws to reach Karunamoyee from Ultadanga. "These drivers tend to charge different fares for the same routes every day and we play into their hands because of our desperation to find quick transport."

Public transport experts have said that better connectivity across the city is the only solution to auto-cracy.

This problem was partly addressed in Garia and Kudghatafter the Metro rail service was extended from Tollygunge to Garia (Kavi Subhash) in 2010. Similarly, across routes where more and better buses are now available, autorickshaw operators seem to have tempered their belligerence.

"The government is ready with an autorickshaw policy. But the solution is to have more buses so that the gap in demand-supply is reduced," an official of the transport department said. "Let autorickshaws remain, albeit on our terms and not on the basis of what they decide on a whim."

Besides the three buses via Ultadanga, two more air-conditioned vehicles will be added to the state-run fleet on Friday as part of the government's initiative to connect more dots on the city's map.