KSRTC’s city bus fleet remains a far cry; hopes to roll out 20 e-buses funded by CSML
The repeated assurances of Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to introduce a dedicated fleet of buses to operate in Kochi city and to towns in the immediate suburbs is yet to be realised, despite worsening of traffic hold ups in and around the city owing to proliferation of private vehicles.
Commuters, NGOs, and residents’ associations have been crying foul at the KSRTC for selling a few dozen low-floor AC Volvo buses and non-AC buses that operated in the Greater Kochi area as scrap in 2022, despite their pleas. This was attributed to slack upkeep of these buses by the KSRTC. The number of Thirukochi ordinary buses that operated in the city too has decreased, as many of them were diverted to far-away depots.
Commuters and others have been demanding the restoration of KSRTC’s city bus services, citing how private buses withdraw service by 8 p.m. every day, and the difficulty in getting buses before 7.30 a.m. T.N. Pratapan, secretary of Vyttila Vikasana Samithi, rued that the KSRTC withdrew from service a fleet of half a dozen buses that operated feeder trips from Kochi Metro stations, citing ‘low’ earnings.
He attributed this to buses from among them that operated city-circular services displaying the Menaka-Menaka board, instead of Vyttila-Vyttila board that commuters were familiar with. Twenty each private buses have been successfully operating trips in the Vyttila-Vyttila route, for over two decades. But the KSRTC withdrew its buses citing that their daily collection was less than ₹2,000. With most private buses skipping their last trips, commuters who arrive in the city in trains and long-distance buses after 7.30 p.m. are forced to rely on autorickshaws and cabs, paying prohibitive fare. This can be avoided if the KSRTC operates adequate number of city-circular buses till at least 11 pm, he added.
Reliability matters
“The KSRTC often withdraws its buses citing low patronage. This can be avoided if it did a proper study about the demand in each route and the time spans, before introducing buses,” said B.J. Antony, a city resident, who retired as Senior Deputy Transport Commissioner. Moreover, it must operate continuously on each route for at least three months to gain the confidence of commuters as a reliable service. It could also adopt a policy to charge a nominally-higher fare for night trips, he added.
Responding to the issue, KSRTC sources said that the agency hoped to introduce a fleet of 20 electric city buses that would be purchased using funds allotted by Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML). A meeting has been planned to identify potential routes, while no deadline has been fixed to introduce the buses, they added.
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