The unprecedented response to the Mahalakshmi scheme for women and transgenders and the upcoming Sankranti festival appear to make the case for an urgent augmentation of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s (TSRTC) fleet of buses.
Transport experts, and officials, who did not wished to be identified, said that the boost to ridership and occupancy on account of the Mahalakshmi scheme’s zero-fare tickets for women and transgenders, which stand at a massive 6.5 crore according to latest figures, the occupancy has soared to about 90%. This means that during rush hours, several depots have occupancy that has crossed 100%.
“The rush would mean that there are a lot of standees (standing passengers). Occupancy has touched 140% in some depots. This occupancy is very encouraging, and the number of passengers travelling has increased from 32 lakh to over 45 lakh. This means we need more, and more buses,” a TSRTC source said.
With the Sankranti festive season to begin soon, the TSRTC expects a more-than-usual passenger footfall beginning January 11. The number of passengers is expected to be higher than previous years on account of the Mahalakshmi scheme. During the last Sankranti rush, the TSRTC transported 2.82 crore passengers.
Touching upon the need for augmentation of the fleet, an official explained that the Corporation recently added buses to its fleet. But this exercise is akin to the much needed replacement of aged and aging buses. Augmentation is to have more buses to meet the current ridership and occupancy demand. Per official records, the fleet strength in 2018-19 was 10,481 which dwindled in September last year to 9,053.
“The corporation needs at least 2,000 buses, in addition to the plans of 2,000 buses, to deal with the large number of passengers on each day. We are certain that the State government will look into this and step in,” a source said.
The cost implication is includes the price of each bus, as well as new personnel — meaning conductors and drivers — required to operate them. The calculation for personnel depends on the type of buses that are pressed into service which is usually a little over two drivers and two conductors per bus.
When contacted, TSRTC Vice Chairman and Managing Director V. C. Sajjanar said that there at the moment, there were no proposals for an augmentation of the fleet, over and above the recent announcement of 1,050 diesel and another 1,000 electric buses for the Corporation. Putting rumours to rest he said that the TSRTC has no plans to temporary suspend zero fare tickets during the Sankranti festive season.
Transport researcher G. S. R. Chaitanya, who has been tracking the developments at the TSRTC said that fleet size in Telangana declined as TSRTC did not procure enough buses to replace the fleet that was scrapped. Even as there are plans to procure a new fleet of buses, they are just enough to augment and restore the size of the fleet to 10,000, he said.
“Within Hyderabad, it will take a lot of work to replace the ageing fleet and restore the size of the fleet to 3800. While the government has guaranteed it will pay its dues in lieu of the Mahalakshmi scheme, they must also provide financial support in the form of grants to procure new buses,” Mr. Chaitanya said.
