Delhi residents can now use the metro card to travel in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses as well. A common mobility card was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal allowing commuters in Delhi to use the same prepaid card to travel on Metro as well as DTC and cluster buses.
The card can be used in 250 buses and by March, it could be utilised in all the 5,421 buses.
Use of common mobility cards is a common practise in cities such as London, Hong Kong and Singapore because it provides an integrated ticketing system for different modes of public transport.
The Delhi Government is hopeful that the card will popularise the buses among the metro users.
There are 13 lakh active Metro smart card users in Delhi. At the same time, ridership of buses is declining at a rapid rate.
The smart card will be swiped by the bus conductor once you board the bus. A paper ticket will be given to the commuters. The facility is already being used in Rohini I, Rajghat and Banda Bahadur Marg depots buses which caters to uses plying on routes from Mori Gate to Mayur Vihar Phase III, Jahangirpuri to Anand Vihar and Mukherjee Nagar to Inderpuri.
Depending on the popularity, the Government will decide whether to extend this facility to the metro feeder buses as well.
