Award given by the Govt. of India in National Urban Mobility Conference
Bhubaneswar: Mobus, the beloved city bus service of Capital Region has won the top award of the country for second time in a row. The award has been given by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Govt. of India in a national level conference yesterday evening.
The 13th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference was held online on Monday. This conference is organised by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India every year. Last year the conference was held in Lucknow where Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) was given the first prize, “Best City Bus Service Project” in the new initiative category. Every year awards are given to top performing City Bus Company in different categories. In Lucknow last year there were 12 awards in various categories.
This year there was only one category of award. The theme was ‘Innovations undertaken in Urban Transport during Covid-19’. After evaluating the majors taken by various bus company across the country, the national jury decided to award the first prize- Award of Excellence to Capital Region Urban Transport, Odisha.
The awards were announced on Monday evening in 13th UMI Conference. In an online programme Sh. Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India gave away the awards. Shri Arun Bothra, Managing Director, CRUT received the award. The programme was attended by senior officers of various City Bus Companies all over the country and senior officers of Govt. of India.
On this occasion Sh. Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA and other delegates praised CRUT for its innovative methods to keep commuters safe from Covid-19. Later various bus companies of different states showed interest to learn from CRUT about these methods.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Arun Bothra said, “We are thrilled to receive UMI award two times in a row. He thanked Govt. of India for this recognition and said, “This will motivate us to provide better services to the commuters while taking all precautions.”
Sh. Bothra said that the award to CRUT reflects the seriousness of Govt. of Odisha about Covid measures. He further added, “The COVID-19 measures taken by the state Govt. are considered one of the best in the country. We are happy that MoBus has lived up to the expectation of the Govt. as well as people of the Capital Region and enhanced the reputation of Odisha in terms of Covid management.”
Sh. Bothra said, “After resumption of service post lockdown, our top priority was safety of the passengers. We treat our crew and commuters as our family members and ensure their safety like we do for our own family. From the very beginning of pandemic, CRUT team ensured safety of passengers and crew. No standing passenger were allowed to travel in the buses. Wearing of mask was made compulsory for all the passengers while they commute in MoBus.”
“After the resumption of service, people were unwillingly to travel in public transport. To get back the faith and trust of the customers, we decided to be transparent. Through social media and press coverage we informed how we were disinfecting all buses with a high level disinfectant at regular intervals. Commuters regained confidence over a period of time and more people have started commuting in Mobus.” He said. Currently 109 buses are operating on 17 routes with around 26000 passengers per day.
Sh. Bothra said “In the present scenario, it is imperative to use contactless method over cash to avoid human to-human contact. In order to digitize the commute, recently we have introduced QR code payment and Tap & Pay ‘MoBus Card’ in the bus to facilitate cashless transaction. This will allow a hassle-free and risk-free travel for the commuter in the times of COVID-19.” He thanked riders for this recognition. “They have trusted in us from the beginning of service and continue to ride with us in the time of pandemic while following the safety protocols.”
Smt. Dipti Mahapatro, General Manager, CRUT said, “Even when our regular service was suspended for daily commuters, we continued to serve the citizens. Mo Bus services were running so that emergency services could run. We are glad to contribute a little in the war against COVID-19 by providing dedicated bus service to emergency helpline & health workers. We gave support to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in its endeavour to serve citizens of Bhubaneswar during this crisis. Mo Bus was used for delivery of essential items in the containment zones of city.”
During lockdown, Covid-19 pandemic-induced social distancing pushed us to the confines of our home and Mo Bus service had to be suspended. “As customer caring company, we thought of introducing Games of Mo Bus for our commuters to beat the lockdown blues. This was used as a tool to educate commuters about SMS (Social Distancing, usage of Mask & Sanitizers) and maintaining the relationship with customers,” said Smt. Mahapatro.
She added, “We intend to publish a book in future, ‘Mo Bus Mo Story’, first of its kind in the country, featuring experiences shared by commuters in form of stories, poems, paintings and sketches.”
CRUT is continuing to provide essential service to keep city moving by undertaking safety measures for its employees and commuters, the most significant one being 100 hours (5 weeks) of online training imparted to over 1200 crew through program titled Bus Pathsala. Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha unveiled the book, ‘Bus Pathsala’ on the occasion of second anniversary of MoBus on 6th November. This compilation of virtual training sessions conducted during COVID pandemic on soft skills and technical skills is first of its kind publication by any public transport company in the country.
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