The confederation of seven private bus companies operating in the Greater Kochi area is keenly awaiting the State government’s response to its proposal to constitute a public limited e-bus company in which the government could have 26% share.
The Cochin International Airport Limted (CIAL) model of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the public transport sector was mooted early this year to enable retrofit of CNG kits in buses as an interim measure.
The confederation, which has 1,000 buses operating under it in the Greater Kochi area, is drawing up plans to gradually replace all buses with those running on electricity.
This comes in the backdrop of considerable depletion in private bus fleet from over 30,000 over a decade ago to less than 15,000 now, mainly due to the skyrocketing prices of fuel and other operational expenses.
Shift from diesel
Since procuring e-buses is a costly proposition, plans are afoot to retrofit CNG kits in buses as an interim measure. “The cost of retrofitting CNG kits will come to approximately ₹4 lakh per bus. This shift in fuel from diesel to CNG will in itself usher in savings of around 40% on fuel expenses.
“Many more CNG dispensing outlets are on the anvil in Kochi to cater for hundreds of CNG autorickshaws that are being registered in the city every month,” said P.A. Felix, CEO, Confederation of Bus Companies.
Smart buses
The confederation and Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) are engaged in efforts to convert 1,000 buses into ‘smart buses’.
“Around 100 buses have already switched over to e-ticketing machines, and they accept the Kochi-1 multi-modal card. They also have CCTV and screens relaying information to passengers. Efforts are on to convert 100 buses every month to smart buses,” Mr. Felix added.
In addition, bus crew will be trained in soft skills to behave courteously with passengers and to adopt good driving practices. Training programmes are also under way to familiarise them with the Chalo Kochi journey planner app.
The confederation is in talks with the State Transport Department for including the e-bus company proposal in the Rebuild Kerala scheme. A presentation on the proposal was made to the Planning Board too, it is learnt.
