Over 13,000 petitions signed demanding funding for bus infrastructure in Delhi state budget

In a recent grassroots campaign, in total 13,240 citizens signed petitions demanding 4000 new buses, including Mohalla buses, and a dedicated bus transport fund to improve bus transportation infrastructure in the upcoming Delhi’s state budget of 2024-2025.

The petition focuses on ensuring the safety of passengers and employees by improving the infrastructure of bus shelters, depots, and bus lanes.

Greenpeace India conducted the petition—door to door and online— among the general public and several communities in Delhi. The responses reflect the collective voice of people and their impassioned plea for immediate action, which were presented to the Delhi government on 16th January 2024.

“Our Communities depend on an accessible, connected and affordable public bus system. Everyday almost 28 to 31 lakh people use buses in Delhi. We face several challenges on a daily basis while using public bus transportation in Delhi. The number of buses is not sufficient considering the population and travel requirements. There is a need to increase the number of buses. Also, the bus transportation infrastructure requires improvements in terms of the condition of bus shelters at various places in Delhi,” shared a waste pickers’s community member Sheikh Akbar Ali

While extending warm congratulations to the Delhi Transport Department for the commendable milestones achieved in 2023, including the increased presence of electric buses and the inauguration of a cutting-edge bus route navigation map at ITO, Greenpeace India shed light on the challenges faced by citizens and the pressing need for transformative improvements and urged Delhi government to consider citizen-centric recommendations during the upcoming state budget, emphasizing inclusivity, safety, and reliability in the public bus transport system.

In the letter to the Transport minister, recommendations were provided aiming at comprehensive and sustainable improvements in Delhi’s public transportation system.

“As advised by National Urban Transport Policy 2014 (NUTP), Delhi must create a separate urban transport fund to ensure an efficient transportation system that prioritizes people, not private vehicles,” read the letter. It suggested creating a dedicated urban transport fund with legal backing through a comprehensive urban transport act, overseen by a unified metropolitan transport authority.

The proposal also includes implementing the “polluters pay” principle and adding additional sales tax on fossil fuels, levying road charges on big cars with less than three passengers, and providing tax concessions to enhance the financial viability of public transport.

The extension of the free bus travel scheme to cover distant demographics, including children, people with disabilities, senior citizens, the trans community, students, and all bus users at least on certain specified days per week, is recommended.

“In the face of Delhi’s escalating air pollution crisis, we must prioritize an efficient public bus transport system to tackle this public health emergency. As part of our ongoing public bus campaign, We urgently demand the addition of 4000 new buses in the upcoming state budget, coupled with the establishment of a dedicated public bus fund. ” said Aakiz Farooq, Campaigner at Greenpeace India.

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