Shortly, passengers will have the benefit of watching TV while they travel in RTC buses.
Apart from the Rachchabanda for weaker sections of the society, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government has also turned to providing amenities to the urban citizens.
Shortly, passengers will have the benefit of watching TV while they travel in the Road Transport Corporation buses in Hyderabad.
As part of this initiative, LCD TV sets will be installed in 2,200 buses. Over 200 new modern bus shelters with seating, including about 30-40 in the Old City, are set to come up.
The existing 100 bus shelters will be shifted as per suggestions from RTC and traffic police.
In all, over 1,000 bus stands will be in place by the end of this month.
The RTC accrues an advertisement revenue of Rs. 5 crore annually, and the expenditure for the face-lift will be met from that, according to transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana, who had a review meeting with the officials of RTC, traffic police and the GHMC to study the modalities for bringing in changes for the convenience of the travelling public.
The minister is expected to make surprise visits to ensure coordination among the departments involved in the program.
The RTC will also compete with private carriers, who have thus far monopolised the transportation of goods.
Now, RTC cargo service will come into effect to minimise the burden of cost imposed by private operators, the minister revealed.
Over 1,000 old buses taken from 6,000 buses in operation for passengers will go into cargo service. Once CNG pipelines are in place, the RTC will get the buses to run on CNG, in order to reduce pollution levels.
The corporation will also start driving schools to facilitate issuing of driving licenses. Driving tracks will be earmarked for this purpose, as the demand on RTA has been increasing.
Following the Supreme Court's direction to the Centre for high security number plates, the RTC is proposing the supply of number plates at a low cost, to all vehicles.
As many as 46 such centres will be functional.
The transport minister is expected to take up the budget for RTC, at the Cabinet Sub-Committee meeting on Feb 11.
Botsa was of the opinion that the changes will usher in a sense of security among the staff and step up confidence among bus commuters.
Principal Transport Secretary Dinesh Kumar, RTC MD Prasada Rao, Transport Commissioner Premachandra Reddy, Additional Commissioner (Traffic) C V Anand and GHMC Additional Commissioner Dhananjaya Reddy were present at the meeting.
Courtesy: INN