It was in March 2011 that the then Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, introduced mini-buses to expand connectivity to smaller colonies in and around the Greater Hyderabad jurisdiction, including a predominant part of the Old City.
Like their bigger cousins, the smaller ones too are loss-makers due to poor occupancy and high running costs, says Executive Director-Greater Hyderabad Zone of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), A. Purushotham. The fleet is a 100-strong and the Zone operates 80 mini-buses, with the remaining held in reserve as spare vehicles.
They were introduced during the tenure of then Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy following representations by residents of new colonies. “In the recent past, we focussed on extending last-mile connectivity, wherever roads were wide. But the fact that several stretches of roads are not wide enough, is a handicap for us,” the Executive Director says.
