Can Buying More Public Buses Help Improve Air Quality in Delhi?

The Delhi High Court has directed the Arvind Kejriwal government to deploy another 2,000 buses running on clean fuel (CNG or electric) as soon as possible. In 1998, the Supreme Court asked the Delhi government to increase the number of buses on the roads from 5,000 to 10,000.Nineteen years later, the Delhi government only has 5,594 buses, most of which now run on CNG (since 2001).The Delhi government is in talks with automobile manufacturers to procure 500 electric buses as soon as possible. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has asked the DDA to release another 135 acres of land to be used to park the expanded fleet of buses.Delhi desperately needs a better public transport system. Sure, it has an ever-expanding metro-rail network which ferries about 2.7 million passengers every day. But this is not enough for its population of 25 million (and counting). While the metro serves fixed routes, it is the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses that cater to most interior places to ensure last-mile connectivity.The problem: There aren’t enough buses. Delhi has only 5,594 buses in its fleet – a combination of low-floor buses, semi-low floor buses and regular buses built on truck chassis frames. Of these, only 4,000 are owned by the DTC, while the remaining are operated under a leasing scheme from private players.After smog wreaked havoc in north India this year, the Delhi government was ordered to procure buses on a war footing in a bid to discourage people from using private transport. Delhi needs at least 11,000 buses to handle its transport needs.Diesel buses were phased out of Delhi’s fleet in 2001, and replaced by relatively cleaner buses running on compressed natural gas (CNG). However, these buses have a limited range of about 250-300 km, and are not too powerful. Tata supplied nearly 2,700 Marco Polo buses to DTC and has clocked over a billion km. Most of these are low-floor buses, which allow for easy entry and exit from the bus for differently-abled commuters.The others are semi-low floor buses, which are higher and can handle rough roads better. The low-floor buses initially had a few maintenance issues owing to low ground clearance and having the engine at the rear. Only a fraction of these were air conditioned.If the DTC is to seriously consider improving the public transport situation, it will need to procure more air-conditioned buses – both low floor and semi-low floor models. Delhi needs at least 6,000 more such buses.Also read: Delhi HC Notice to Govt Against Non-Wheelchair Friendly BusesThe Delhi government has just placed an order for 2,000 more buses and plans to procure 500 electric buses.Delhi Govt Picks Up 500 Electric Buses to Counter Rising PollutionThe Delhi government has been sitting on funds collected through environment cess, and is only now utilising that to expand its fleet of buses. It now plans to spend about Rs 787 crore collected from the environment cess to buy more electric buses. (Electric buses cost about three times as much as a conventional internal combustion engine bus). So far, it has spent only Rs 93 lakh of the amount collected.Also Read: India Gets Its First Electric Bus in Delhi, to Ply for Six MonthsElectric buses will definitely help reduce pollution to quite an extent, at least within the national capital region. Since India has 70 percent of its electricity being generated by thermal power stations, there is overall not much of a gain in terms of the environment. Coal-fired power stations will have to churn out more power to charge these buses, negating gains of zero pollution from running electric buses.However, since the source of the pollution will likely be shifted elsewhere (to where the power plant is located), the air within the National Capital could be cleaned up. The government has planned to procure 500 electric buses and is meeting with auto manufacturers such as Tata and Ashok Leyland to look at feasible models.If the Delhi government plans to increase the number and frequency of buses on its routes, there will eventually be a need to increase bus fare. However, looking at the issues surrounding the increase in metro rail fare, such a fare hike may not be easy to implement. At present, bus fare in Delhi is between Rs 5 and Rs 15 for non-AC buses and between Rs 10 and Rs 25 for AC buses.(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT in partnership with #MyRightToBreathe to find a solution to pollution. Send in your suggestions to fit@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)

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Can Buying More Public Buses Help Improve Air Quality in Delhi?

Why is Delhi not able to get more buses to deal with its ever-expanding population and battle pollution issues?

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Topics: Explainers Delhi metro fare hike