Meghalaya CM flags off Shared School Bus System, unveils prime tourist vehicles

Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on January 11 flagged off 30 Shared School Bus Systems and unveiled Prime Tourist Vehicles and Prime Agriculture Response Vehicles at a function held at U Soso Tham Auditorium, Shillong.

In his address Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said the Sustainable Transport and Efficient Mobility Society (STEMS) program is entirely focused on mobility and overall transportation and decongestion of Shillong issues which are crucial and concern everyone. 

“Multiple ideas have been discussed in the past and we have struggled to find a solution because the problem is complicated and at the same time it keeps increasing and hence a lot of thought process has gone into the STEMS program,” he informed. 

“A lot of planning and effort has gone into it and has been designed to the needs of Shillong city and the needs of the different stakeholders and I am sure the program will run successfully,” he said. The Chief Minister also informed that the program will be expanded in other parts of the State. 

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Informing about the Prime Agriculture Response Vehicles the Chief Minister said that the farmers face a lot of problems with mobility and transporting their products to the markets. “We have decided that on an annual basis, we will continue this program and we will try to cover more farmers' associations and groups so that the farmers will have a strong transportation network which will ultimately help the farmers,” he said. 

“The Prime Tourist Vehicles are a step to improve the overall tourism sector, to provide good transportation services to tourists and at the same time provide job opportunities to our entrepreneurs,” he added. The Chief Minister also highlighted some projects and steps of the government that are in the pipeline to decongest and improve the traffic congestion in Shillong city. 

Earlier, in her address CEO, STEMS, Isawanda Laloo, said that the fleet of buses that is being introduced shale used by multiple schools for school trips and the same buses may be used by employees to commute to offices and on holidays or weekends by tourists thus creating more efficiency and ensuring that the operations of the buses are sustainable. 

Giving an insight on the genesis of STEMS she said, “For executing the proposed solutions an agile institutional structure was needed the society was thus created by the government with an inclusive governance structure for easy collaboration for smooth implementation and execution.” She further informed that all other supporting systems like all-weather waiting kiosks, and zebra crossings are part of the system. She also informed that the fleet of buses will be expanded in future to cover more areas in Shillong. 

STEMS comprises representatives from Traffic, Police, Education, Transport, District Administration and Urban Affairs. The buses are equipped with all requisite facilities with five CCTV cameras per bus for Front View, Rear View, Driver View, Boarding View and Seating View. The buses are GPS enabled for real time tracking with a passenger information system and LED screens to show the routes. The NIC will develop Mobile application and website for tracking and booking of the buses while the transport department will be roped in for operations and maintenance of the buses. 

The drivers and the caretakers of the buses will be trained by the Meghalaya Skills Development Society. STEMS have a dedicated and experienced personnel who will directly report to the CEO.