Assam: ASTC decides to reduce number of Pink Buses to four due to poor passenger traffic

Due to poor passenger traffic, the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) has decided to cut the number of Pink Buses from 25 to merely four.

According to a notification published by ASTC, the number of passengers on Pink buses has been falling over the last few months. As a result, it has chosen to curtail bus service, with only four buses operating daily on municipal routes.

The ASTC also released a revised schedule for the buses. According to the new schedule, the bus service will operate on four routes:

Bus no 1: Khanapara - Jalukbari, Bus no 2: Jalukbari-Khanapara, Bus no 3: Bonda/Narengi-Jalukbari and Bus no 4: Jalukbari-Bonda/Narengi.

The announcement further stated that if demand increases, the operational fleet may be expanded to facilitate travel.

The 'Pink Bus,' which was launched as part of the 'Bhraman Sarathi' scheme, was designed to provide free transportation to ladies and senior persons inside the city of Guwahati. Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal introduced a fleet of 25 buses in 2021.

Khanapara-Jalukbari via Paltan Bazar, Forest Gate-Jalukbari via Chandmari, Basistha Mandir-Jalukbari via Paltan Bazar, Khanapara-Jalukbari via NH/ ISBT, and Game Village/ Bhetapara-Jalukbari via Paltan Bazar were previously covered by the 25 buses.