The much awaited bus terminus, in front of Jama Masjid in Sakchi will start functioning from tomorrow. The private bus operators will start keeping their buses at the terminus spread in nearly 2.5 acres of area along Sakchi-Bistupur Road from today evening.
Sanjay Pandey, secretary of Shikshit Berozgar Mini Bus Association, the apex body that coordinates the nearly over 100 town bus service running on 11 specified routes, carrying over 50,000 passengers daily, said that the deputy commissioner had asked them to make the new bus terminus operational from today.
East Singhbhum deputy development commissioner, Suraj Kumar said that Tata Steel will be engaging an agency for fitting GPS in all the buses within a week.
“As per our plans Tata Steel will hire an agency for fitting GPS equipment in all the buses and CCTV cameras at the terminus.
The cost of GPS enabled vehicle tracking system and CCTV cameras will be borne by the bus operators association. The operators have assured to get it fitted within a week,’ said Suraj Kumar.
Incidentally, vehicle tracking system will give real-time locations of moving buses. The tracking system will send data about bus speed and alert operators at the bus terminus in case they stop at locations other than what has been fed in the system. Commuters would be able to find the location of buses to their destination and also ascertain the expected time of arrival at their stop. There will be display units in buses and at bus stops, helping commuters plan their journey better.
“The new initiative will not only be commuter-friendly, but also saves considerable time for us. I keep travelling quite frequently.
Having gone through the pain of wasting several hours just for booking tickets during the festive season and then spending several hours to reach the terminal before the actual departure of buses is painful,” said a passenger.