The special drive against private buses by the Transport Department appears to have come as a blessing in disguise for the APSRTC as authorities claim a considerable increase in seat occupancy ratio in their buses during the last few weeks.
The Transport Department launched a special drive against private buses since the Volvo bus mishap at Palem in Mahabubnagar district. Since then, department authorities claim that over 1,000 private buses were seized for different violations across the State.
With majority of private buses staying off the road, passengers are turning towards the APSRTC and this is leading to increased demand, especially during weekends. Compared to last December, the seat occupancy ratio increased by about 15 per cent this month.
In tune with the demand, about 20 to 50 additional buses were being operated on few long distance routes connecting Bangalore, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam etc, said RTC Greater Hyderabad zone Executive Director A. Koteswara Rao.
Meanwhile, RTC announced that 4,960 special buses would be operated to different places from the capital from January 8 to 13 in connection with Sankranti festival. These buses would be operated in addition to the 3,557 regular buses but passengers willing to travel in special buses would have to shell out 50 per cent extra fare.
Generally, huge rush is witnessed at bus and railway stations on January 10 and 11. For the first time, RTC authorities are operating three Vennela sleeper buses on the above days from Secunderabad railway station to Vijayawada, Kakinada and Nellore for the convenience of commuters travelling towards these regions.
In the return journey, these Vennela sleeper buses would be operated on January 15 and 16 from Vijayawada, Kakinada and Nellore to Secunderabad station, said Mr. Rao at a press conference here on Tuesday.
Further to avoid traffic congestion at Mahatma Gandhi Bus station (MGBS), authorities have decided to operate buses from different sectors to different destinations. Accordingly, buses to Ongole, Nellore, Kurnool, Kadapa, and Anantapur would be operated from Central Bus station, while buses towards Warangal, Hanamkonda, and Yadagirigutta would be operated from Uppal crossroads and those towards Nalgonda, Miryalguda and Kodad would be operated from Dilsukhnagar bus station.
