The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is planning to introduce daily pass for its premium air-conditioned service between State Bank and Manipal.
Daily pass on Volvo intra-city service is perhaps being introduced for the first time for intra-city services of KSRTC while monthly and daily passes are in vogue in its moffusil and city services respectively.
The corporation has recently slashed fares on its State Bank-Manipal Volvo service. The reduced fares are applicable between State Bank and Udupi on its Bhatkal service too.
Divisional Traffic Officer M.B. Jaishanth Kumar told The Hindu that the daily passes between Mangaluru and Manipal are likely to be priced at ₹150 for a two-way journey. The one-way fare on the service between the two cities is priced at ₹95 and the daily pass works out at ₹75.
Thus, the daily pass should be attractive for regular commuters between Mangaluru and Manipal. Number of journeys is limited to only two.
KSRTC operates 10 Volvo buses on the State Bank-Manipal sector every day. While the first service starts from Mangaluru at 7 a.m., the last service starts at 7 p.m. and they operate at a frequency of 30 minutes.
The first service from Manipal begins at 7.15 a.m. and the last at 7.15 p.m., operating at a frequency of 30 minutes, Mr. Kumar said.
The corporation had commenced Volvo services between the two cities in 2010 to offer comfortable journey in the cozy air-conditioned atmosphere.
The services were a big hit given the humid weather condition in the coast. KSRTC has been periodically revising the fares to attract more and more passengers.
While the occupancy in these services would be high during non-Monsoon period, it used to drop during the rainy season. The average occupancy throughout the year has been about 43%. Slashed fares and daily passes are aimed at wooing more passengers to its fold, said Mr. Kumar.
The slashed fares are competitive enough to attract passengers as one has to pay about ₹70 in an ordinary express service, which takes not less than one hour 45 minutes from end to end. One can complete the journey on a KSRTC Volvo in one and a half hours, he added.
