| Surat City Bus | |
| Parent: | Surat Municipal Corporation |
| Service Type: | Commuter bus |
| Service Area: | Surat, India |
| Fleet: | 875[1] |
| Ridership: | 200,000 |
Surat City Bus is the name under which city buses are operated in Surat, Gujarat, India. It is operated by a private entity-‘Sitilink’ under a public private partnership model for the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).[2] The model is based on an earlier model by the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) which operated bus services in Ahmedabad on a public-private partnership, but subsequently failed.[3] In 2012, the Government of Gujarat announced that it would set up similar transport facilities in 180 cities across the state under a public-private partnership.[4]
In 1997, the Surat Municipal Corporation had submitted a feasibility report to the Government of Gujarat, for privatisation of bus services in Surat city, as existing services being operated by the state-run Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) were found to be loss-making and insufficient for the city.[5] In 1999, the GSRTC inaugurated a new bus stand and office at Udhna for city and rural bus services in and around the city.[6]
In August 2007, the SMC entered into an agreement with a private entity to provide bus services for a period of five years. These buses were referred to as Redline buses and were fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG).[7] In 2013, the SMC was unable to find a new operator, forcing it to extend the existing agreement by a few months. Subsequently, Redline services were suspended because the operator could not break even with the service.[8] This reportedly affected 80,000 commuters per day across the city.[9] In July 2013, the SMC launched a new line of services labelled Blueline buses, operated by a different operator. A total of 120 bus stops were constructed by the SMC prior to the Blueline buses being flagged off. The Blueline service is expected to run 125 buses for six years.[10] The passenger number has risen from 3,000 to 65,000 and the SMC's revenue, too, shot up from ₹46,000 to ₹600,000 daily. The ministry said that in Surat city the model shift of passengers from autorickshaw to city bus is about 86.91 per cent.At least 6.18 per cent of two-wheel passengers, 0.67 per cent of car users and nearly 5 per cent of other passengers have started using city buses.
It consists of 875 buses and runs on 28 different routes, covering 85 per cent of urban area. More than 2 lakh passengers use public transport on a daily.