Odisha Minister promotes Mo Bus expansion and e-Bus initiative

Bhubaneswar, July 3: Dr. Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, Odisha's Cabinet Minister for Housing & Urban Development on Wednesday made a notable journey on the Mo Bus, a public transit service. He purchased a ticket and travelled from Master Canteen to Press Square, engaging with commuters along the way to gather feedback on their Mo Bus experiences. Accompanied by Shri Arun Bothra, Managing Director of Capital Region Urban Transport, Dr. Mahapatra highlighted the service's role in providing convenient, sustainable, and safe commuting options.

Addressing the media, Dr. Mahapatra expressed plans for expanding the Mo Bus fleet in response to citizen needs, aiming to enhance service coverage across various locations. He announced the addition of 400 e-buses through the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, intending to convert the existing fleet progressively to e-buses. Specific plans include deploying 100 buses each in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Rourkela, with additional buses allocated to Sambalpur.

Dr. Mahapatra later inspected the Mo Bus electric depot at Gadakana and conducted a review meeting with officials from Capital Region Urban Transport. Emphasizing the need to increase bus frequency on busy routes, he underscored CRUT's current operation of 463 buses across 95 routes, serving regions including Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, and Berhampur, with an average ridership of 2.5 lakhs per day.