The Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) started the trial run of zero-emission buses in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. At least 10 electric buses will ply on various routes of the Capital city on a trial basis before a full-fledged launch of the service.
A temporary charging station has been set up in Patia. If the trial becomes successful, more electrically charged buses will be introduced later. CRUT aims to roll out 10 buses initially under MO bus service and later start at least 50 electric buses in different routes of the Capital city.
After the trial run, the buses will roll out in a full-fledged manner by July last week.
The electric buses will have modern features like AC, CCTV camera, USB charging points in every seat. The main advantage of electric buses will be pollution-free, noise-free transportation that require no diesel or petrol.
Like other electric vehicles, these too are gearless and have three switches-reverse, neutral and drive.
The pandemic has hit Mo Bus service with numbers falling from a peak of 1 lakh to 26,000 a day now. A total of 109 buses are plying on 17 routes.