DTC's daily average ridership down by 35% in 4 yrs: CSE
13 Dec 2017 5:44 AM GMT
New Delhi: The daily average ridership of the state-run Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has declined by over 35 per cent between 2012-13 and 2016, according to a report prepared by NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The daily average ridership of the DTC went down from 47 lakh in 2012-13 to 30 lakh by the end of 2016, it said. The report, which is based on data available till November 2016, claimed that even the ridership figure of 30 lakh was an "overestimation". As per the latest available DTC statistics, about 30 lakh passengers are carried daily, of which only 14 lakh (45 per cent) are ticketed passengers. The rest 16 lakh (55 per cent) use passes, it noted.
It is "officially assumed" that each pass holder makes an "absurdly high" nine trips per day. "Thus, a pass holder is counted as travelling nine times during the course of a single day and that inflates the daily trip number. It is possible, therefore, that the DTC's daily ridership is expected to be much less than the currently stated 30-lakh figure," it said.
The DTC bought new buses way in 2011-12. There has been almost no addition to the fleet in the past five years. "If no new buses are added now, the entire fleet will get nearly phased out by 2025," said the report.
"This is unacceptable, especially at a time when travel demand and pollution problems are exploding in the city. If this is not acknowledged and resolved immediately, it will make the problem of pollution and congestion irreversible," said Anumita Roychowdhury of the CSE. Mpost
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