PANAJI
While the entire fleet of 48 electric buses under the Smart City mission is commissioned, two crucial elements remain outstanding -- the installation of pole-mounted contactless ticket validators and ticket vending machines at 18 bus shelters.
The Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) has now stated these are expected to be operational by month-end or latest by October.
The passengers, on over 100 routes in and around Panaji, are still experiencing the traditional ticketing methods. However, Divisional Traffic Officer (KTCL) Roque Luis told The Goan, that once the electronic validators are in place, passengers will simply need to tap their Smart Transit Cards to board and alight.
“Ticket collectors are currently manually issuing electronic tickets on board. Once the Pole Mount Validators are installed in each of the 48 buses, this manual process will be phased out. Passengers will then have to tap their cards when boarding and again when exiting the bus,” he said.
The fares have been fixed at Rs 10 for trips up to 4 km and Rs 20 for trips between 5 and 10 km. The KTCL is also offering a 50 per cent concession to students and senior citizens.
Luis explained the operation of the new system stating that the machine would deduct the total fare amount when a passenger boards the bus. “When the passengers tap again upon alighting, the difference between the fare and the distance travelled will be credited back to their account. But the drivers will need to be informed of each passenger’s destination to stop the EV bus,” he added.
The Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited funded 22 EVs while 26 EVs were procured from the funds allotted by the Central Government under Goa@60. While all buses are commissioned, at a given time, 40 are operational since these are put for charging on rotation.
The buses operational since July 1 on routes named Green, Blue, Yellow, Red and Orange are available at intervals of 15 minutes during peak hours and at 20 to 30 minutes for odd hours.
The State also identified 161 bus shelters of which 18 shelters will have ticket vending machines. This pending venture is also expected to take off within a month, the KTCL officer said. The government is also focusing on building EV charging facilities in the State.
