Crut plans expansion of Ama Bus services to 10 more urban centres

Bhubaneswar: Capital Region Urban Transport (Crut), which operates Ama Bus services, has drawn up plans to expand city bus operations to 10 more urban centres as part of its next phase of growth in public transport.

The proposed expansion will cover Balangir, Bhadrak, Rayagada, Jeypore in Koraput district, Jajpur, Balasore, Jharsuguda, Angul, Baripada and Keonjhar.

The move is aimed at extending organised city bus connectivity to more towns beyond the existing operational network while also strengthening sustainable urban mobility infrastructure across the state, Crut officials said.

“As part of the rollout, initial work has started in several locations. In Balangir and Bhadrak, route surveys and site selection for bus depots are underway. In the remaining eight places, land has already been identified for the required infrastructure. In Keonjhar, construction has already started,” said a Crut functionary.

Crut is also pushing electric mobility as part of the expansion strategy. Under the first phase, 100 electric buses will be procured for Angul, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar and Baripada. In addition, the agency has procured 50 electric buses each for Sambalpur and Berhampur to strengthen services in cities where operations are already running, Crut said.

Infrastructure development linked to the expansion is also advancing. “In Angul and Jharsuguda, depot development has reached nearly 80% completion, with major electrical installations in place and civil works moving ahead. In Baripada, approvals are under process, while depot construction is being explored under the Mukhyamantri Shahri Vikas Yojana scheme.

“Alongside physical expansion, we see a growing adoption of digital systems in operations. We have recorded an average 41% digital revenue collection across cities. We have also introduced in-bus advertising for the first time, which is contributing up to 18% of total monthly revenue,” Crut manager (operations) Jayant Kumar said.

Crut has further introduced a monthly performance tracking system to gauge the work of Crut staff based on which quarterly incentives are awarded to bus captains and guides.