Cheap e-passes for Bhopal buses cheer commuters

BHOPAL: Resumption of city buses on two routes — SR 1 (Bairagarh to Chirayu hospital via New market) and SR 2 (Bairagarh Chichili to Chirayu hospital via Vallabh Bhavan) — has gone down well with passengers, who travel long distances to get to work. Commuters, who had to use private vehicles or cabs, are very happy with the online passes issued by Bhopal City Link Limited (BCLL) that has brought down the fares significantly and given an option of cashless transaction to passengers.A few passengers who commuted by the bus on the first two days — Thursday and Friday — have given positive reviews.
Anita Bhavsar, a cook who works in the residential quarters near Chirayu hospital, said she had been waiting for the bus service to resume soon as it was getting very difficult for her to commute to and from work every day.
Nabeel Khan, who travels from New Market to Bairagarh, said he liked the e-pass system that BCLL has started. “The e-pass allows cashless transaction and is pretty economical. I got the e-pass worth Rs 100. It will allow me to commute to work and back home for 10 days. This way, I will be spending only Rs 300 per month on commute, cutting the cost of travel to a minimum,” said Khan.
PRO of BCLL, Sanjay Soni, said that there were 80 passengers on first day and around 130 passengers on second day. “It will take another 10-15 days to start normal flow of passengers in city uses. We are also planning to start buses on other routes to improve connectivity to other areas. We have provided the bus conductor and driver with hand washes and instructed them to keep washing their hands with soap and water after every one-two hours. Passengers are requested to keep their masks on all times. Once passengers start commuting in buses in large numbers, we will also figure out rules to maintain social distancing. At present, not more than 10 passengers are travelling in the bus at a given time,” said Soni.