Exactly a year after the launch of the low-floor city bus service by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) under the in Udupi, officials said that the service has been receiving good response from the people.
Presently, there are 30 low-floor city buses operating in city. They have been ferrying passengers from the city to 15 villages located on the outskirts of the city.
The launch of this service was regarded as significant as till a year ago, the city bus service was totally a monopoly of the private sector.
According to Uday Shetty, KSRTC Udupi Depot Manager, the traffic revenue earned by each of these 30 city buses on an average was ₹3,000 per day.
The KSRTC has issued bus passes to about 1,450 students including 235 belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
“There is good response from the people to the low-floor city buses. In fact, people are demanding that it should be extended to new routes,” said Priyanka Mary Francis, Deputy Commissioner.
There is no terminus for these buses and they are being parked at a temporary terminus in a small area near the Private City Bus Terminus here.
There are no shelters for the passengers to wait at this temporary terminus.
The district administration had handed over 34 cents of land, where the old DDPI office was located, from the Department of Public Instruction to the Department of Transport for the construction of a KSRTC City Bus Terminus, two years ago.
A plan was drawn up for construction of this terminus at a cost of ₹4 crore.
