The Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) bus station here has got a facelift with the addition of new facilities to woo back the passengers who have got accustomed to travelling by other modes of transport.
The bus station, which used to stink with garbage strewn all over due to poor upkeep, now resembles the lounge at an airport thanks to the Swatch campaign and modernisation works undertaken at a cost of Rs. 1.50 crore to improve the ambience under ‘passengers delight’ project.
The facilities in major bus stations in Darsi and Kangiri have also been upgraded, says APSRTC Regional Manager R. Adam Saheb in a conversation with The Hindu .
“With rows of imported steel chairs, fans and television sets, aluminium composite panel cladding for pillars and a fresh coat of painting, we want to ensure a pleasant stay for the passengers waiting to board buses,” he adds after inspecting the platforms which have been raised to avoid flooding during rainy season.
Happy over the upkeep of the bus station with improved facilities, Transport Minister Siddha Raghava Rao said “Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wants to make the RTC the most-preferred mode of travel by the public.”
All the bus stations at the district headquarters will be given about Rs. 1 crore each for improvement of passenger amenities, the Minister says, adding that presently, many of the bus stands in rural areas are in disuse due to improper maintenance.
Orders have been issued for providing Rs. 5 lakh each to improve dilapidated ones to win back people hitherto travelling by other modes of transport, he adds.
GPS-based tracking
APSRTC planned to go for live GPS-based tracking of buses on major routes for the benefit of passengers who could get GPS updates from the bus on which they have planned their journey. “We are going to introduce the facility in over 6,000 buses in phases,” the Minister revealed.
“Presently GPS-based tracking has been introduced on select buses to Chennai and Bengaluru. The facility will be extended to buses plying to Hyderabad in the next phase,” adds the Regional Manager.
The GPS-based tracking will enable the passengers to track the bus live on a Google Map and locate the bus from a large number of buses stationed at the bus station at a given point of time.
Special buses
Gearing up for the Sankaranti festival season, the RTC plans to operate 400 buses from Hyderabad between January 8 and 14 and back to Hyderabad an equal number of bus services between January 17 and 23, he says.
Occupancy ratio in the region now is a healthy 72 per cent and the new initiatives are sure to improve it further, he adds.
