Even if the 2,990 cluster buses, which are run by private operators, are included, Delhi’s current state run buses strength goes up to 6,750 only. Fortunately, the STA has now allowed us to operate DTC buses till they attain 15 years. We need to add new buses to DTC’s fleet because our expenditure on maintaining these old buses is also increasing. Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director and in-charge of research and advocacy, said because 100% of DTC’s fleet is “overaged”, the effective increment of Delhi’s bus fleet size has been very small. The DTC continues to operate with old buses, which effectively nullifies the increase in the city’s bus fleet because 56% of it constitutes DTC buses.

Source: Hindustan Times July 26, 2021 00:00 UTC