new delhi the transport department has sought feedback from elected representatives including mlas and councillors to decide the routes of the mohalla bus service ahead of its launchin this years budget the government had announced a mohalla bus service scheme under which ninemetrelong airconditioned buses will be introduced to improve lastmile connectivity initially 100 mohalla buses will be launchedwe are in the process of finalising the route details and have received many suggestions from various stakeholders the idea is to connect local areas of delhi from business junctions and strategic points said transport minister kailash gahlotthese buses would be handy in ensuring better lastmile connectivity in areas where big vehicles could not enter he addedgahlot said a consultation exercise with mlas and councillors was being planned since elected representatives are directly in touch with people it will help us learn which areas have higher footfall and where more services are required so we can plan the routes better he addedsenior officials said it would take at least two more months before starting the scheme as the department is in the process of purchasing buses and deciding routesaccording to sources the delhi transport department has finalised the colour combination and design of mohalla buses sources in the transport department said the buses would be blue and green in colour with mohalla bus written on them prominently in both hindi and englisha senior department official said teams have been asked to prepare the shortest possible routes that can accommodate the maximum number of passengers the routes will be decided based on several factors including the existing public transport services in an area and the distance passengers have to walk to access different modes of transportation the bus service will be free for women the official addedeach mohalla bus will have panic buttons and internal announcements of destinations routes will be displayed in the buses and tickets will be given through handheld vending machinesa group of experts had earlier suggested that the service should have a simple fixed fare and recommended that the overall travel time be under 30 minutesthe transport department will add 4000 buses to its fleet in phases by 2025end for which three firms have got orders the first lot of 100 buses is expected to be delivered by september 2023 while there are 1900 big 12metre buses 2080 are small ninemetre buses for mohalla bus service