Mysore/Mysuru: Following an overwhelming response to Shakti scheme that offers a free ride for women in KSRTC buses, Mysuru district, the home turf of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has been allotted over 50 new buses.

The buses, painted in sky blue and white colours, are gradually being added to the existing fleet in KSRTC City Division from the past five days and will be soon hitting the road to bridge the gap between the surge in number of passengers and the buses.

Earlier, when compared to the spurt in the number of women commuters mainly, the buses available were insufficient with the scrapping of over 100 buses procured under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), for completing the running life of 15 years.

Six months ago, TATA buses were operated on the city routes on a pilot basis. These buses also passed the gruelling test, with the authorities inspecting them on several parameters like fuel consumption, routes and passenger volume.

Ashwamedha category buses being operated on rural routes are already a hit among the commuters. Like other buses, these buses also have two-seater and three-seater facilities and are considered fit for rural routes. But there is a demand to run only two-seater buses in the city routes and a proposal has been submitted to consider this demand in the new buses expected to arrive this month.

The interior of new buses has passenger-friendly design with two ventilators in the roof to facilitate the  free flow of air and light, along with luggage compartment for school and college students to keep their bags, making it a convenient ride for the city commuters.

Unlike LED boards that scroll the route number and information related to the routes where the buses pass, the new buses will have traditional boards, painted with the route number and the routes. This decision to revert to the old system is owed due to the technical glitches experienced in the case of electronic boards that underwent frequent repairs, it is said.