The Public Service Employees’ Transport Service Enterprise, the state bus service provider for public servants, added 50 more buses to its fleet after investing 197 million Br.

The Enterprise bought 45 middle and five low floor buses for 3.9 million Br and 4.2 million Br a piece, respectively, from the state-owned military-industrial conglomerate Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC).

The agreement between the Enterprise and the Corporation was signed last March, and MetEC is expected to deliver all the buses next month.

Bishoftu Automotive Industry, one of the dozen industries under the Corporation, assembles four buses a day with parts from China. Each has a capacity of carrying 85 commuters with 50 seats.

Bishoftu, established in 2010, operates with more than 3,400 employees assembling civil vehicles and manufacturing military armaments. It supplies buses to Anbessa, Sheger and other governmental institutions.

The buses will have a Global Positioning System (GPS), e-ticket facility and petroleum consumption controlling system.

Established in 2015 with 55 buses to alleviate the transport problem of public servants, the Enterprise transports more than 82,000 commuters using 410 buses daily from 24 starting points to 48 destinations in the city.

In addition to the regular service, the Enterprise provides transport services using 193 buses for more than 35,000 people daily. It also provides contract and leased transport services by signing contract agreements with clients.

The Enterprise is limited to giving services in the city, but considering the increased demand for mobility, it is conducting a study to expand its services to the outskirts of the city, according to Solomon Ambachew, communications director at the Enterprise, which has over 900 employees out of which 461 are drivers.

“We've started piloting transport services to Bishoftu,” said Solomon.