The Hindu : RTC occupancy rate up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 05, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

RTC occupancy rate up

By Our Staff Reporter

Vijayawada July 4. The special drive launched by the city region of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation for improving the operational efficiency has paid rich dividends with the passenger occupancy ratio registering an upward swing by three percent.

The three percent swing means an approximate increase in revenue by Rs. 25 lakh every month, which is a substantial amount for the corporation, which is sulking under poor occupancy and competition from the private operators.

For the past one year, the corporation has been earning about Rs. 3 crores every month with the occupancy ratio dipping to an all time low of 58-59 per cent. But the special drive has boosted the ratio to 61 per cent and the corporation hopes to improve upon the same.

The special drive was launched for the first time in the city from June 24 under which five `operational task groups' (OTGs) have been formed to keep a hawkish vigil on the bus crew. The OTGs headed be various depot managers and other staff are being stationed at different important bus points of the city to monitor the movement of the bus and the behaviour of the crew.

The OTGs have been formed following the feedback received by the corporation from the general public and the commuters. The corporation during the past two months had been circulating pre-printed cards `passengers response cards' with questionnaire seeking the public suggestions for improving the services.

More than 90 per cent of the 800 odd commuters who responded suggested that the corporation should and must ensure that the buses stop at scheduled stops atleast for a minimum of 45 seconds, to help the passengers board and alight comfortably. The common complaint was that buses hardly stop for 10 seconds at a stop making it difficult for the passenger to board it.

``Based on the feedback we decided to act tough on the crew and have constituted the OTGs to keep a close watch on the operational efficiency,'' Regional Manager of the Krishna Region, U. Sudhakar Rao, said.

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