On the occasion of Constitution Day 2083, 28 night buses will be operated in Kathmandu Valley from October 3rd.
Under the chairmanship of Sunita Dangol, Acting Chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the meeting held on Wednesday between the heads, deputy heads, common transport and concerned officials of various municipalities in the valley decided to operate the service on 6 extended routes.
According to the extended plan, 6 buses will be operated from Godavari to Budhanilkanth and 6 buses will be operated from Jagati in Bhaktapur to Thamel via Ratnapark to connect the north-south and east-west parts of the valley.
Similarly, 4 buses will be operated from Tribhuvan International Airport to Nagadhunga in Chandragiri, 4 buses from Kirtipur to the office of Nepal Air Service Corporation at Naya Road and 8 buses will be operated for two-way traffic on the ring road.
After the availability of regular transport services on the ring road, arrangements have been made to enable passengers to change buses at one place and reach any destination in the valley where the service is operated. In this way, the maximum fare to be paid by the passengers during the night journey is fixed at 80 rupees.
Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan Corporation and Chandragiri and Budhanilkanth Municipalities have been running the night bus as a trial since 1st of Baisakh in collaboration with Common Transport.
After three months of testing, based on the financial and managerial suggestions given by the expert working group, it has been decided to continue this service by making it sustainable and secure in the joint financial partnership of the local levels.
In the meeting, Acting Chief Dangol maintained that the fare should not be increased immediately to provide accessible services to the citizens. He proposed that the related municipalities should bear the financial loss or insufficient amount during the operation of the service by sharing based on their population density, geographical size and financial capacity. which was unanimously passed by the meeting.
During the discussion, Ghanshyam Giri, head of Chandragiri Municipality, said that increasing the participation of municipalities will reduce the burden of costs and provide reliable facilities to passengers.
Similarly, Mitharam Adhikari, the head of Budhanilakanth Municipality, opined that the benefit-cost should be reviewed monthly for the sustainability of the service, while Gajendra Maharjan, the head of Godavari Municipality, said that the possibility of extending the service to Chapagaon, Lamatar and Luvhu in Lalitpur should also be explored.
Deputy Chief of Bhaktapur Municipality Rajni Joshi expressed the belief that this decision will bring great relief to the citizens who are forced to pay expensive fares without getting public transport to Bhaktapur after 8 pm. He said that this will further strengthen the interconnection of Bhaktapur with Kathmandu and Lalitpur.
Kirtipur Municipality Chief Krishnaman Dangol, Chandragiri Deputy Chief Basanti Shrestha, Kathmandu Metropolis Chief Administrative Officer Muktiram Aryal, Traffic Expert Advisor Jagatman Shrestha, Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office Deputy Superintendent of Police Suniljung Shah and Chairman of Common Transport Sushilraj Payakurel participated in the meeting.
The meeting has decided to request the Government of Nepal to make timely amendments to the existing transport laws to facilitate the route permit process for night bus services.
In addition to this, it has been agreed that the local levels will facilitate the construction of charging stations and night bus parks in the destination places, and organize Jatras, festivals and fairs in public places to activate the night-time urban lifestyle in the valley.
Published: 24 Bhadra 2083 22:09 Wednesday
