'Mo bus' service rolled out in Odisha

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday launched the technology-driven and citizen-friendly Mo bus service featuring free wi-fi, CCTV surveillance, public information display system and on board announcements in the city.

After flagging off the bus service, Patnaik himself travelled in the bus with the passengers from Biju Patnaik International Airport to Odisha Assembly.

The state government-owned Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) sources said the 'Mo bus' service will cover nine routes in the state capital in the first phase.

It will also provide the Mo Bus mobile app through which passengers can book their tickets and get to know the locations of the vehicle to minimise their waiting time at the bus queue shelters (BQS), they said.

The BQS will have advanced features like digital screens to display the bus route numbers and their arrival times for the waiting passengers, he said.

The bus service has been launched for the residents of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, they said.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, Krishan Kumar informed that around 300 buses will be rolled out in three phases. In the first phase a total hundred buses will begin plying from Wednesday 11 AM.

Kumar said the buses will operate daily for 15 hours from 7 AM to 10 PM on 9 routes according to the network plan finalised earlier. Following the launch, buses will be available in gaps of 10-12 minutes duration for commuters.

The Phase-II of the bus service is scheduled to be launched from November 15 while the Phase-III will be rolled out on December 10.