On The Road To Ridership

---

Despite being the backbone of daily commutes, buses in Indian cities often run half-empty. Yet, Bhubaneswar’s Mo Bus service is defying the trend by seamlessly bringing together tech and accessibility to attract riders. As cities like Delhi and Surat look for ways to boost ridership, could Mo Bus hold the secret to getting more people on board? Or is the key to better urban mobility something more?

Source: Kalingatv

For any efficient public transit system, ridership is an important factor. In India, the majority of the cities rely on public transport. However, the public bus transit system is often inadequate and is in constant need of improvement. There seems to be no explicit uridership strategy in India, both at national and sub-national levels. The decline in bus ridership has been a common phenomenon across most Indian cities.

Average daily ridership of MO Bus (2018-19) | CRUT

The state governments try to push for improving public transport ridership through various interventions. For example, Surat’s civic body extended its bus transport services to the city outskirts to facilitate industrial workers. Delhi’s DTC bus service also saw increased ridership after launching point-to-point services for the officegoers and implementing a free rides scheme for women.

The Odisha Government launched the Mo Bus service in 2018 when the city bus service in Bhubaneswar was witnessing low ridership and needed improvement.

As a solution, Mo Bus was incorporated with real-time technologies and an e-rickshaw system as a last-mile feeder service. Within 12 months, the bus service saw a jump in average daily ridership from just 19,000 to almost 80,000 riders.

Currently, 57% of the city’s commuters use the Mo Bus. Winner of various national awards, the Mo Bus service has recently been listed as one of the 10 global recipients of the Annual Public Service Awards for 2022 by the UN.

Even though buses carry more commuters compared to the metros, this public transport often faces issues related to imbalanced investments. Another area of concern is the lack of integration of bus networks with overall city infrastructure. Studies suggest that a clear ridership strategy along with a robust fiscal strategy for integrated public transport can help in improving public transport ridership.

Does your city have a public bus transport system?

• Yes
• No

What is your city doing to improve it?

To know why Odisha’s MO Bus service was awarded, read more.