Nagpur’s Raksha Bandhan surprise: free bus rides for women and kids from Aug 28

Women and children up to 10 years of age will be able to travel free on Nagpur’s Aapli Buses on Raksha Bandhan, which falls on August 28, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) transport committee announced this week. Committee chairperson Mangala Khekre said the move recognises that women already account for nearly 40% of the network’s daily ridership.

The announcement came out of a transport committee meeting held on Tuesday that also touched on the technology now being used to manage the bus network. An artificial intelligence system trialled on five Aapli Buses to count passengers boarding and alighting returned data that was 97% accurate, Khekre said, adding that it would help the department improve operational efficiency and boost revenue. The committee approved a Project Advisory Committee to take the AI initiative further.

Money was also on the agenda: the committee cleared a Rs 160-crore allocation for the transport department, at a time when ticket sales brought in Rs 8.32 crore in April and Rs 8.28 crore in May against expenditure of Rs 20.95 crore and Rs 20.52 crore in those same two months.

On the fleet side, the committee approved converting 150 midi buses and 45 minibuses to CNG, with the operator covering the entire cost under a five-year agreement, and cleared the operation of 91 buses across seven routes in the Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority area.

In a civic twist, the committee also approved repurposing scrapped buses into air-conditioned public toilets, breastfeeding rooms and commercial kiosks aimed at livelihood generation. Two condemned buses will go to a voluntary organisation to set up canteens, and the standing committee has sought eight more buses for similar public utility projects.

[Source: Times of India] Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Rsrikanth05