CRUT announces reduction of ac bus fares for next 2 months

The Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), the lone bus service provider in the state capital on Friday announced reduction in the air-conditioned bus fares for the next two winter months and rationalisation of the fare structure, an official said.

The AC bus fare has been slashed up to 38 per cent. The price of monthly passes has also been reduced and the new fares will come into effect from December 2, said Dipti Mahapatro, General Manager, CRUT.

CRUT, which operates 200 buses in the city under the name of 'Mo Bus' (My bus) has decided that the minimum AC bus fare will be Rs 5 for first two km which is Rs 8 at the moment. At present the maximum fare of an AC bus trip is Rs 100. This will be priced at Rs 70 now, Mahapatro said.

She said that presently AC bus fares are 60 per cent to 140 per cent higher than the non AC buses. With revised rates, the difference between fare of an AC and non AC bus will be only about 30 per cent.

"There has been constant request to reduce AC bus fare and we have come up with this winter promotional offer. With this reduction in ticket fares we expect to retain regular travellers and also attract new commuters," said Mahapatro.

It has also been decided to rationalise the fare structure for both AC and non AC segments to multiple of Rs 5 to make it convenient for passengers to pay for the ticket, Mahapatro said, adding that many times both the customer and bus guides do not have change available.

While elaborating the new fare system, Mahapatro said for example at present non-AC bus tickets are priced at Rs 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17 and so on. In the new fare structure the fare would be Rs 5, 10, 15, 20 and so on. Rounding off fares to multiples of Rs 5 will also reduce the time taken for cash handling by the bus guides, thus allowing them to issue tickets much faster especially during peak hours.

The monthly Bhubaneswar non-AC Pass will now cost Rs 550 instead of Rs 600. Bhubaneswar Pass for AC buses will cost Rs 750 instead of Rs 900. Similarly Magic Pass Non-AC and AC will now cost Rs 1100 and Rs 1500 instead of Rs 1200 and Rs 1800 respectively, she said.

CRUT currently has a fleet of 200 buses equipped with free Wi-Fi, clean and technologically advanced equipment and cater to around 85,000 passengers daily spread across 250 km network in 21 routes in the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.