JAIPUR BUSES
Imagine our city without buses….imagined ?? The thought itself is terrifying. Lets peep into the real world now. Of-course there are other means of transportation too but buses seem to be the most easy,economic and comfortable means of transport and jaipur city buses are no exception to it. They are like the lifeline of the common public. Its a kind of public car! Why waste fuel and increase pollution when this kind of transportation is available with us. Already the Global Warming monster is eating us up. In this kind of situation, use of the public buses is necessary and quite helpful.
Jaipur City Transport Service Limited (JCTSL) is the city bus transport service for Jaipur. Its whole functioning is handled by RSRTC. RSRTC is working for years but the city bus service for Jaipur was started by it in 2007 with a fleet of 100 buses.
History :
City buses were initiated in Jaipur in 2007 with a fleet of 100 buses. This new bus service was taken by the public in a very positive way and soon it gained popularity. JCTSL is the Special Purpose Company (SPC) responsible for the planning,regulating and monitoring of city bus operations for the city of Jaipur under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission(JNNURM) project. In 2009 a new fleet of low floor and low floor AC buses were introduced taking the overall army to a number of 400 out of which 300 are presently sprinting on the roads of Jaipur.JCTSL has four depots : Sanganer, Vidhyadhar Nagar, Shastri Nagar, and Bais Godam.
Buses Routes :
These city buses run on 10 major different routes touching almost each and every corner of Jaipur. These routes include 7 radial routes with 7 additional routes and 3 circular routes. Along with this there are 3 AC routes and 6 sub-urban routes. These routes are:
Route No. 1 (Todi to Badi Chaupar)
Additional Route No.1A (VKI road number 17 to Badi Chaupar)
Route No. 2 (Bhankrota to Chandpole)
Route No. 3 (Pratap Nagar to Choti Chaupar)
Additional Route No. 3A (Sanganer Circle to Choti Chaupar)
Additional Route No. 3B (Pannadhay Circle to Brahmpuri)
Additional Route No. 3C (Mahatma Gandhi Hospital to Ajmeri Gate)
Route No. 4 (Kanota to Sindhi Camp)
Additional Route No. 4A (NRI Circle to Railway Station)
Route No. 5 (Kunda to Collectorate Circle)
Route No. 6 (Malviya Nagar to Khirni Phatak)
Additional Route No. 6A (Malviya Nagar to Khirni Phatak)
Route No. 7 (Heerapura to Transport Nagar)
Route No. 8 (Jagatpura to Jagatpura) Circular Route
Route No. 9 (Agarwal Farm to Agarwal Farm) Circular Route
Additional Route No. 9A (Agarwal Farm to Dadi Ka Phatak)
Route No. 10 (Galta Gate to Galta Gate) Circular Route
AC Route 1 (Sanganer Circle to Kukas)
AC Route 2 (Joshi Marg to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital)
JCTSL operates a large number of buses for local transportation in Jaipur. The type of buses can be identified by their specific colour and the routes have their specific colour line printed on the bus. Basically the non-AC low floor buses are cream in colour with the coloured route line printed on it. They have a digital system showing the start and end point in front and at the back. Apart from this there are dark red coloured buses which are non other then the AC buses and a fleet of green coloured buses which are the sub-urban buses connecting the neighbouring towns around Jaipur. These buses have limited stops and fixed fares.The fare in these buses are also quite normal ranging from RS 6 – RS 18 in non AC buses and from RS 10 – RS 35 in AC buses. Apart from such cheaper prices there are passes too. For a regular bus user it is beneficial to opt for a pass rather than to pay daily. The passes are for a month, 3 months, 6 months. Passes are also on a daily basis for a back and forth journey. Concessions for students and senior citizen are also available.
Problems Facing :
Out of 400 buses planned to be operated, presently JCTSL has 300 buses under operation. Recently JCTSL has called away its 60
buses due to lack of maintanance and damages incurred. These have been stationed at the workshop as spare parts are not availablewith the company. Out of them, 31 buses have gear problems, four are facing engine issues and the rest have wiring and fuelpump problem. In the initial phase a HOP ON – HOP OFF service was set off which included 8 AC buses. It linked the special tourist points in Jaipur including the railway station and airport and major hotels with a 24 hour valid ticket costing around RS 200-300. This was specially started to lure the tourists. It also contained a LCD TV informing about the tourist places. But it proved to be a complete failure due to lack of planning and marketing strategies and soon it came to halt.
Presently due to the ongoing construction of Jaipur Metro, roads at many places have been dug out.This also adds to the trouble as many routes have been diverted and the time to catch up destination increased. Along with this the daily traffic problem also adds to the misery. Many times the public faces rude behavior from the drivers and conductors. Many of them faces a problem of irregular bus timing.
“Helpline number 1800-180-6050 has been displayed on all buses for assistance in case of misbehavior,” said SS Ratanu, chief manager, JCTSL, Sanganer.“Police act against the accused only if a complaint is filed. In case of staff misbehavior, passengers can lodge a complaint by calling the helpline (above) or dropping a complaint in the complaint box present in all bus,” added Ratanu.
Life without buses in a city like Jaipur can’t be imagined but the persisting problems can be sorted out and this could be proven as the best means of transport in Jaipur. So just lay on your back and have a sigh of relief because you know all about Jaipur bus services and you have a good facility with you to go on with.
