The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) is all set to increase bus fares by 10 to 15 per cent. This was decided at a meeting of the transport department on Tuesday evening. At present, commuters, who travel by non-AC buses, have to shell out Rs 5 for up to 3 km, Rs 10 for 3-10 km and Rs 15 for over 10 km. For those commuting by AC buses, Rs 10 is charged for up to 3 km, Rs 15 for 3-10 km, and Rs 20 for above 10 km. A senior transport department official told Chandigarh Newsline, “As fuel prices have gone up and the cost of maintenance of the buses has also increased, we are thinking of increasing the fares by 10 to 12 per cent. The exact slab structure would be available only after a fortnight. Every year, there is a gap of up to Rs 80 crore between revenue and expenditure.” It was last in 2014-15 that the CTU had hiked bus fares after a gap of 10 years. Due to the increase in maintenance cost of buses, the hike has been planned after a our-year hiatus now. CTU has a fleet of 533 buses, operating from four depots. Of the total, 410 buses are plying on the inter-city bus service route and the rest on long routes. As many as 2 lakh commuters use CTU buses daily. In 2017-18, CTU suffered a loss of Rs 72 crore and in 2016-17, Rs 85 crore. Transport director Amit Talwar said private transport does offer a competition to the buses in Chandigarh because of their end-to-end transport facility. “Even though the fares are completely non-comparable, yet people in Chandigarh prefer private transport. Due to the short distance within the city, people feel that private vehicle saves time, but we have 2 lakh people travelling every day on the buses. The reason to propose the hike in fares is not passenger number but the increase in fuel rates and the maintenance cost of buses over the years.” For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

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