The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) to reduce the number of Pink Buses from 25 to 4 due to poor passenger traffic.
In a notification issued by ASTC, the number of passengers on pink buses has been declining in recent months. As a result, it has decided to restrict the number of buses on the road, with only four buses operating on a regular basis.
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 women and senior persons inside the city of Guwahati. Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal introduced a fleet of 25 buses in 2021.
It needs to be mentioned that 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.
