Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited has been performing the duty of public transport service provider in Gurugram since launch of ‘Gurugaman’ city bus service by CM Manohar Lal on Sep 2, 2018. Since then GMCBL ‘s ridership increased exponentially and it was ferrying around 85,000 passengers daily on 18 routes with a fleet of 154 buses in March 2020. It had also bagged the best city bus service award in Gurugram Metropolitan Area in 2019. That was before the public transport service was hit by the advent of Coronavirus.

For the first time in GMCBL history, service was suspended in observation of the Janta Curfew and then the Lockdown that gripped Haryana till June 2020. However, in the midst of the pandemic during lockdown GMCBL served the residents of Gurugram as buses were repurposed to carry essential food items, grocery, fruits and vegetables to the doorsteps of residents. One bus was modified to serve as sample collection bus for testing of Coronavirus in collaboration with Pathkind Diagnostics moving in three designated locations in Gurugram to facilitate residents. GMCBL buses during lockdown also helped the District Administration by carrying medical teams to district hospitals and the patients to hospitals and dropping them off to their destinations. Gurugaman bus also helped the Govt in carrying out the Vande Bharat Mission and transported repatriates arriving at IGI Airport to several quarantine locations in Gurugram.   

Post lockdown and resumption of service on July 1, 2020 on six key routes with just 68 buses, GMCBL has to follow Covid-19 protocols and the guidelines laid down by the Govt to safely transport passengers. Thus with a limitation of 18 passengers per bus (50% of seating capacity), strict adherence is being paid to passenger safety by following all the SOP guidelines with the aim to provide safe travel rides to people in Gurugram.

Routes in Service

www.gmcbl.in

(10-15 minutes interval)

Route 212: Basai Chowk - HUDA City Centre (Mudrika)

Route 134: Iffco Chowk to IMT Manesar

Route 112D: Gurugram Bus Stand to Sec-56 (Ghata)

Route 218: Gurugram Bus Stand to Sohna

Route 116F: Rajesh Pilot Chowk to Railway Station

Route 122: Gurugram Bus Stand to Sikander Pur Metro

The safety measures on Gurugaman buses are:

•             Entry of passengers wearing masks through designated entry gate

•             Hands-free sanitiser installed on each bus near entry gate

•             Temperature scanning of boarding passengers by CSAs

•             Passenger advisory pasted on each bus and at four major bus stops

•             Sanitisation of the bus at depot and terminal points after every round trip

GMCBL Gurugaman service has been slowly gaining confidence of passengers through the adoption of these safety measures incorporated by its team since resumption of service in July. By adhering to the health safety guidelines of the Government and formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by GMCBL for the Depot Managers, Customer Service Agents (CSAs) and Drivers, precautions are being taken to safeguard the interest of the passengers, to earn their trust and thereby promote their safe ride experience stories through social media to encourage other travellers.

In just over a month’s time, GMCBL tripled its ridership. From 5,256 riders on July 2, 2020, the second day of resuming operations, in over a month’s time, on July 31, 2020, the passenger count had almost tripled up to 13, 718 riders. Each day we are witnessing a slow increase and today, GMCBL safely carries around 15,000 passengers daily.