Delhi Govt to ply air-conditioned buses

Delhiites could now hope to make their daily journey to office and back in the comfort of air-conditioned buses.

Delhi government has decided that 20 per cent of around 6,000 modern, low-floor buses, to hit the capital's roads before the Commonwealth Games to be held in 2010, will be air conditioned.

"We are going in for a fleet of about 6,000 buses by the year 2010. Twenty per cent of the buses will be air conditioned so that people can come to their offices and go back in an air conditioned bus rather than ride a motorcycle or drive a four wheeler," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit told PTI in New Delhi.

She said the decision has been taken to discourage people from travelling in private vehicles and prefer public transport so that traffic can be better managed.

"You can control the growth in the number of vehicles only if you provide people with a good transport system. That is why I have thought of air conditioned buses," she said.

"Now, in a family, if there are four people, there are four cars," she said, commenting on the present scenario in the capital.

Dikshit said her government was laying special thrust on improving the transport system in the capital and has created a special purpose vehicle for it.

"So we are thinking of the short term as well as the long term. To think of the long term in a place like Delhi is important as it is a vibrant and growing city," she said.