| As part of the project, 19 buses, with a seating and standing capacity of 40 each, will ply on Bhopal roads from tomorrow. However, after the completion of the project 250 buses will ply on four-lane Bhopal roads, covering a total length of 39.23 km. |
| The high-capacity buses will operate by the year 2011. These buses will cater to 91 per cent of the public transport demand, while private mini-bus operators will cater to the rest of the share. |
| "By 2021, mini-buses will be pushed out of operation from the existing operational area," said a government official. |
| The Centre will have 50 per cent share in the project, of Rs 249.32 crore, and the Madhya Pradesh government's share will be 20 per cent, which will amount to Rs 99.72 crore, and the rest will be the contribution of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, Bhopal Development Authority and Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department. This will be of Rs 149.59 crore. |
| "An amount of Rs 407.13 crore will be invested in infrastructure creation, i.e., four-laning of city roads," said a government official, adding, "the new system will cater to 23 lakh passengers by the year 2011." |
| The new BRT infrastructure, with its concrete bus and cycle lanes, motor vehicle lanes, underground service conduits, and storm water drains is estimated to cut costs by 75 per cent. New light poles will also be erected to provide uniform illumination level on the street. |
| "The number of poles will be reduced to an extent of 25 per cent by increasing the pole-to-pole distance to 40 metres from existing 30 metres alongside the roads. This will also save 110 Mw of power every year," said the official. At present, more than 700 private mini-bus operators cover Bhopal. A similar project is also to be launched in Indore city. |
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