Time Keepers Back on Guwahati City Bus Routes!

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Now on the DTO (District Transport Officer) is to decide routes for city busses plying in Guwahati. Time keepers, a post that was abolished some 10-15 years back, will be seen at the starting points and terminuses of city buses in the metropolis.

RTO (Regional Transport Office) DTO Bapan Kalita had a meeting with an association of city buses on Monday. DCP (traffic) Prasanta Saikia and others were also present at the meeting.

Talking to The Sentinel, Kalita said: “We’ve taken a few steps to give city bus commuters of Guwahati a respite from the indiscipline of city buses. There’re around 669 city buses in Guwahati, and 550 of them are on roads. This is part from 200 ASTC (Assam State Transport Corporation) buses plying in Guwahati routes. Among the around 10,000 cabbies belonging to Uber and Ola, around 8,000 ply in the city. The number of autorickshaws in the city is around 5,000 and 1,650 metro taxis. Taking all commercial vehicles, including trucks, Guwahati has around 1.50 lakh vehicles.”

Kalita said: “At least 8,000 licences have been suspended in the past three years. Now on a time keeper each will be deployed at the starting point and terminus of each city bus route. They’ll keep departure and arrival times of buses at both the ends. Charging fines from city bus crews hasn’t solved the problem. Now we want to get it solved though counseling. Each city bus is given only two-minute time to wait for passengers in a stop. All illegal bus stops in the city will be dismantled. Since we’re going to allot routes for city buses now instead of city bus associations, we’ll take immediate action as and when any city bus deviates from its allotted routes.”

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