Surat wins Best City Bus Services Award for attracting 87% of private vehicles users

Surat Municipal Corporation was on 6 November 2017 awarded with the ‘Best City Bus Services Award’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for attracting 87 per cent of the private vehicle and auto rickshaw users to use city buses.

While, Mysuru’s Public Bicycle Sharing won the ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport’ Award and Kochi (Kerala) was chosen for the ‘Best Urban Transport Initiative’ Award for completing its Metro Rail Project in a quick time.

The H-TRIMS of Hyderabad, the Traffic Integraged Management initiative,  was awarded with the ‘Commendable Initiative Award’  under ‘Best Intelligent Transport Project’ category. On the other hand, Chittor was chosen for the ‘Commendable Initiative Award’.

These cities were awarded under the ‘Best Urban Transport Practices’ of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

What made Surat win the Best City Bus Services Award?
• Surat city, with a population of about 45 lakhs, was heavily dependent on three wheelers and private vehicles till 2014 when Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) and city buses were made operational.  
• At present, 275 city buses are operational in the city on 28 routes with fares ranging from a minimum of Rs 4 to a maximum of Rs 22.
• With this development, 87 per cent private vehicles and auto rickshaws shifted to city buses minimizing environmental and social adversity issues.