By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government has decided to adopt a number of measures to revamp and re-strategize the public transport system in the city.
Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Friday informed The Shillong Times that her department had recently held a review meeting to improve the Government-run public transport services in the city.
She also informed that her department had recently arranged a training programme for all the drivers and conductors of the SPTS buses and the maxi cabs with the makers of the vehicles to equip them with the technical knowhow of these vehicles.
The Department will also arrange training for the drivers and conductors with the Shillong Traffic Police to familiarize them with the traffic rules.
She also informed that from April 7 it would be compulsory for the drivers and conductors of the SPTS buses and the maxi cabs to wear uniforms along with names plates.
Lyngdoh also said that the Department would carry out surprise checks in the buses and penalise ticketless passengers and the drivers.
The Department has also asked the bus and maxi cab operators to come out with a special package for school children and senior citizens.
“We have told the operators to make the packages operational by June 15,” Lyngdoh added.
One of the most innovative plans of the Department is to install electronic boards in the bus stops which would display information about the duration in which a particular bus would be arriving at the concerned bus stop.
“For this the GPS system needs to be made fully operational,” she added.
Informing that out of the 50 SPTS buses, only 20 buses were in running condition, Lyngdoh said that the bus manufacturer has been asked to make all the spare parts of the buses available.
“Other modalities are being worked out,” she said.
