
Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is the main
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...
operator of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
. It is the largest
CNG-powered bus service operator in the world.
History
The Delhi Transport Corporation was incorporated in May 1948 by the
Indian government
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
for local bus services when they found out the incumbent service provider Gwalior and Northern India Transport Company Ltd. was inadequate in serving the purpose. It was then named "Delhi Transport Service". It was again constituted as "Delhi Road Transport Authority" under the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950. This Authority became an undertaking of Municipal Corporation of Delhi by an Act of Parliament in April, 1958. In 1971, on a recommendation from the Indian government took over the assets and liabilities from the erstwhile Delhi Transport Undertaking (DTU) operated by the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is the municipal corporation that governs most of Delhi, India. The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to an estimated population of more than 11 million citiz ...
until 2 November 1971. Delhi Transport Corporation which was under administrative control of the Indian government was transferred to the
Government of National Capital Territory, Delhi. Beginning in October 2019, New Delhi began rolling out free bus transit for women on the Delhi Transport Corporation, with women traveling for free when using pink tickets.
Routes
Delhi Transport Corporation operates on many routes in Delhi and neighbouring States. The mofussil buses operate around 46 depots out of which 18 depots are of old DTC buses and rest have low floor buses while the inter-state buses operate from the Three
Inter State Bus Terminals
In India, an Inter State Bus Terminal or Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) is a bus terminus that provides bus service to destinations located in other states. An ISBT may also provide bus services to destinations in the same state. Mostly ISBT Ter ...
in
Kashmiri Gate,
Sarai Kale Khan and
Anand Vihar.
Intra-Delhi bus services
Delhi Transport Corporation services in Delhi has vastly distributed network of bus services. It connects almost every part of Delhi with this network of buses. The most Prominent of these being the ''
Mudrika'' and the ''Bahri Mudrika Seva'' services interconnecting all parts of the city with a great frequency of buses until approximately 22:30.
High capacity bus service
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
Transport Corporation has started High Capacity Bus Service on a few routes and work is in progress to develop more high capacity bus routes. This service uses buses with improved carrying capacity and better facilities like air-conditioning, less travel time, less congestion, more comfortable interiors,
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
navigation etc. And now in the list of High Capacity Buses is the new, sleek, red coloured air-conditioned buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation, which was inaugurated by
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister of any Indian state, she served for a period of 15 yea ...
on 4 June 2008 during the celebrations of
World Environment Day
World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually on 5 June and encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It is supported by many non-governmental organizations, businesses, government entities, and represents the ...
in the Capital at
India Gate
The India Gate (formerly known as the All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, formerly called duty path. It stands as a memorial to 84,000 soldiers of the ...
. Chief Minister
Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister of any Indian state, she served for a period of 15 yea ...
flagged off the eight new air-conditioned Red Line buses, which will initially ply on select routes in the capital, of which two will be on the newly constructed bus rapid transport corridor. The minimum bus fare starts at ₹5 and the maximum is ₹25 (excluding passes, which are of ₹50-55 ).
Fleet
It is having a fleet of 3757 buses, apart from this there are 3383 cluster buses, taking total fleet to 7140 buses. The green non-ac and the red non-ac DTC vehicles are low floor buses while the orange ones are a mix of high floor and low floor. In the high floor buses, the 2nd door is located behind the rear axles whereas in the low floor vehicles the 2nd door is located in the centre. The fleet comprises semi-integral
Tata Marcopolo low floor and high floor Starbuses bodied on LPO 1623 Low Floor chassis and on LPO 1613 high floor chassis as well as
Ashok Leyland
Ashok Leyland is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, headquartered in Chennai. It is owned by the Hinduja Group. It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors and became Ashok Leyland in the year 1955. Ashok Leyland is the second-most ...
12M FESLF (Front Engined Semi Low Floor) and RELF (Rear Engined Low Floor) integral buses. Most of the low floor buses use automatic transmission gearboxes. In 2011, DTC had planned to make use of
Biogas
Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. I ...
generated from sewage treatment plants with a total of 120 vehicles running on compressed
Renewable natural gas
Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as sustainable natural gas (SNG) or biomethane, is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to fossil natural gas and having a methane concentration of 90% or greater. By increasing the conc ...
fuel. The Delhi cabinet floated a tender to add 1000 electric buses to the fleet with charging stations every 3 kilometres.
In 2021, the DTC made its final order of combustion-powered buses. It made an order for 800 CNG buses, with the intention that these be the last combustion buses purchased by the Delhi government. After that, all new bus purchases will be
electric buses, according to Delhi Cabinet minister
Kailash Gahlot.
Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS)
Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited is transport consultancy and infrastructure development company. It is a joint venture company with equal equity of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and the IDFC Foundation (a not-for-profit initiative of Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited).

The buses of DIMTS are orange (Non AC) and blue (AC). it has a fleet of 1725 buses deployed under the cluster scheme have state-of-the-art technology to guide and monitor them. They have been equipped with
Global Positioning System (GPS) devices so that their movement and geographic location are tracked by the
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system on real-time basis that provides ETA and other data to the passengers b
PoochhO App the App also has trip planner, pollution status in vicinity and other features. Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM) are being used on these buses in place of pre-printed tickets as part of the
automated fare collection
An automated fare collection (AFC) system is the collection of components that automate the ticketing system of a public transportation network - an automated version of manual fare collection. An AFC system is usually the basis for integrated tic ...
(AFC) system, since August 2018 it is possible to use DMRC Metro Card to buy tickets in DIMTS' buses. Under the scheme the private concessionaires, who would be allotted clusters, would bring in their buses, arrange for their cleaning and maintenance and provide for the staff. For the services rendered, the concessionaire would be paid on the basis of an indexed cost system that would have a fixed component based on the cost of the bus, a variable component that would factor in the fuel and maintenance costs and a component that would deal with the wages cost keeping in mind the consumer price index.
Inter-state bus services
DTC was one of the premier bus services of
North India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Centr ...
. Which connects almost all the major centres of North India with its services. At present Interstate bus service is suspended. It covers only few area of NCR.
See also
*
Delhi Metro
The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour ...
*
Transport in Delhi
Delhi has significant reliance on its transport infrastructure. The city has developed a highly efficient public transport system with the introduction of the Delhi Metro, which is undergoing a rapid modernization and expansion since 2006. T ...
*
National Capital Region Transport Corporation
References
External links
Delhi Transport Corporation Website
{{Portalbar, Transport
Transport in Delhi
Companies based in New Delhi
Metropolitan transport agencies of India
State agencies of India
Bus companies of India
State road transport corporations of India
Transport companies established in 1948
Indian companies established in 1948