Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off CRUT’s Mo E-Ride and E-Bus services in Odisha capital on Friday.
The E-Buses will operate in four existing Mo Bus routes, while Mo E-Ride will be plying in several routes providing feeder service to Mo Bus in Patia, Patrapada and Pokhariput.
The fare and concessions for E-Bus will be the same as AC Mo Bus. There will be an introductory flat fare of Rs 10 for Mo E-Ride service for a few months to understand the orientation of the commuters for this new service. For promoting the E-Buses, CRUT has announced to provide free ride in its Mo E-Buses from July 29 to 31.
Air-conditioned Mo E-Buses will have ‘pink’ reserved seats for female passengers. As per the CRUT’s gender inclusivity policy, 50% guides of Mo Bus is reserved for women and 100% for women, transgender and socially disadvantaged people as Sarathis of Mo E-Ride. As a further step, it has introduced women Captains (drivers) for Mo Bus.
“Keeping in mind the vision of making smart city Bhubaneswar a green city, the operation of E-Vehicles was conceptualised. I hope the people will use these services and reduce their carbon footprints,” said Vijay Amruta Kulange, MD, CRUT.
“We had envisioned to make E-Vehicles a part of CRUT and I feel it was much needed looking into the prevailing need of electric vehicles. The Mo E- Ride initiative has been able to bring women, transgender and people belonging to the marginalised sections of the society to mainstream by empowering them with respectable livelihood opportunities. I hope our E-Vehicles would also get the same kind of love like we have been receiving all these years,” said Dipti Mahapatro, GM (P &A), CRUT.
