Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday took a ride in city’s swanky tech driven Mo Bus to mark one year of its operation.
He bought a ticket for himself even while commuters took selfies with him. He travelled from Biju Patnaik Airport Square to Jayadev Bhawan where the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) held a programme to celebrate the progress.
Naveen expressed satisfaction on seeing people use the service. “I dream of Mo Bus being the lifeline of the Capital Region like Best Buses in Mumbai and Metro rail in Delhi and Kolkata,” he said.
Naveen announced that around 50 electric buses will be added to Mo Bus service in view of the rising air pollution in the country.
He also unveiled the name of Mo Bus Mascot – MOBBY (Mo Bus for Better You) for which a contest on social media was held earlier. Ahwan Paikray, a city based professional won the contest.
Speaking on the occasion, Arun Bothra, Managing Director of CRUT said that the first year journey of Mo Bus was challenging and a learning experience for the CRUT Team. “Government organisations are considered slow in their work. But we have justified our tagline ‘The way we move’ and reached one lakh ridership in a short span of time, within less than a year of starting the operation of Mo Bus. The credit for this milestone goes to the riders who have trusted us from the beginning and gave us constant feedback for improvement,” he said.
He highlighted how Mo Bus has seen a phenomenal increase in average ridership from 33,000 a day in May to 85,000 daily now. The revenue has also increased from Rs 5 lakh a day in May to Rs 12 lakh every day now.
Housing & Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena, who was also present at the occasion, pointed out that Mo Bus has more daily passengers than Uttar Pradesh Public Transport.
Also Read: Mo Bus: Expensive Or Affordable?
