Noida: The city e-bus service will begin operations from June 15, the same day the first commercial flights will take off from Noida International Airport. The announcement was made on Wednesday during a review meeting by Noida Authority and UPSRTC.In a separate meeting in Lucknow, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to ensure the availability of sufficient buses in the first phase for connectivity to the airport. He said the public transport system should be fully strengthened before the proposed flight operations begin. The number of buses will be increased once the ridership and demands increase.The bus service will connect Noida to areas around Greater Noida and Greater Noida West at a maximum fare of Rs 30. The fleet of 100 buses — 10 of which are double-deckers — will cover 200 km every day and ply on five routes. While all routes will originate at Botanical Garden, their destination will be Gaur Chowk and Ek Murti in Greater Noida West, Noida International Airport, Sector 62, Surajpur Collectorate, and Anand Vihar or Ghaziabad.Details of the fares have not been announced yet, an official said, but added that the maximum fare on all routes will not exceed Rs 30.A trial run of the buses will commence a week before the launch.The operation of the buses will be carried out by UPSRTC while the viability gap funding for the service will be borne by Noida Authority. The process for hiring 300 staff as drivers and conductors has begun.Earlier, the Authority planned to run 50 buses, but the number has now been increased to 100.A Noida Authority official said passengers will be able to purchase tickets through a mobile app as well as manually. “The plying of e-rickshaws will be banned on routes where the e-buses will operate,” he said.Although the city has around 4,548 buses, these largely cater to private company employees, leaving residents dependent on 19,800 cabs, 17,892 autorickshaws and 26,997 e-rickshaws for daily commuting and last-mile connectivity.The Authority is developing a depot in Sector 90 where the buses will be parked and charged. Facilities including a bus depot, e-charging points, bus service stations and workshops for drivers and conductors will be provided by Noida Authority.Simultaneously, the roadways have also collaborated with a private firm, Switch Mobility, to introduce eight double-decker air-conditioned buses in Noida. Under this arrangement, operations will be managed by UPSRTC while maintenance will be handled by Switch Mobility. These buses are stationed at the Morna depot in Sector 35.Rohitash Kumar, assistant regional manager, UPSRTC, said that a charging station for this facility is ready at the Morna Depot. “After completing the remaining formalities including registration of buses, these double-decker buses will also start plying on Noida roads in two-three weeks,” he said.This is not the first attempt to introduce a structured city bus service in Noida. In 2016, the NMRC had launched a feeder bus service across 11 routes in Noida, Greater Noida, and Noida Extension. However, the service was suspended following the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020 and was formally terminated in Dec that year. The NMRC is believed to have incurred losses due to low ridership, which impacted the viability of the service.
