Government buses have started operating on 16 routes covering parts of Calcutta and adjoining areas like Dunlop, Salt Lake, New Town, Garia, Patuli, Behala and Jadavpur till 11pm.

The routes have been selected so that the buses travel long distances connecting nodal transportation points at the farthest such as Howrah and Garia, Dunlop and Ballygunge, and Parnasree and Ecospace in New Town.

The official order, which came into effect a week back, states the buses will be “on the road during 8pm and 11pm”. Buses on most of the routes will make three or four trips between evening and night.

Only a handful of government buses can be spotted on the city roads at night.

Since January, when chief minister Mamata Banerjee slammed officials for the lack of enough buses on the roads, the transport department has been trying amid several constraints to ensure that more government buses are available during the evening and at night.

The order, which lists the 16 routes, is aimed at addressing the shortage of government buses at night, officials in the transport department said.

Calcuttans have to largely depend on expensive and often unreliable cabs for their everyday commute because buses on most routes are far fewer compared with the number of commuters. The count drops further after 9pm and hardly any can be spotted after 10.30.

“The new order specifies when the buses will leave the depots for the evening and night trips on each of the 16 routes,” an official said.

“On the Howrah-New Town route, the last bus will leave Howrah at 9.30pm and New Town at 7.30pm. The depot authorities will ensure that the schedule is adhered to from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays.”

Commuters, however, feel the move is hardly adequate. “There are many offices in New Town which function 24X7. It beats logic that no government buses will leave the township after 7.30pm,” a commuter said.

The government’s decision not to allow an increase in fares has made private buses unviable. Owners say plying a bus means counting losses, given the current fare structure fixed by the government.

And government buses are too few.

Since Mamata’s criticism, the transport department has increased the number of government buses in and around the city by 100, to around 700.

Senior officials admit that the bus count is inadequate given the number of people who depend on government buses for their daily commute, especially at night.

The count could have been more had there been enough bus conductors and drivers, they said.

“The majority of the conductors and drivers are close to their retirement age and can’t see well at night. Another 100 buses could have been out on the roads if there were more young conductors and drivers,” an official said.

The state government has decided to recruit over 900 conductors and drivers on contract. But that will take time, officials said. Till then, the fleet of buses and the timings will be tweaked so the roadworthy vehicles are out on the roads between 8pm and 11pm, they said.

“On some routes, there will be fewer buses in the afternoon, when the demand is usually lean, so more buses could be made available at night,” the official said.