HYDERABAD: Ever wondered how far buses in Hyderabad run each day? An RTI response has revealed that each bus plying in the Greater Hyderabad Zone (GHZ), on an average, covers 247 km per day. Buses in most other cities also cover about the same distance each day.
The RTI query, which was filed by a researcher GSR Chaitanya, says that in 2018-19, the Vehicle Utilisation (VU) for 24 kinds of bus services was at the rate of 247 km. This increased marginally from 2017-18 — which was at 246 km. In 2016-17, the same was pegged at 259 km.
Vehicle Utilisation is crucial in understanding how welldeployed buses are in any city and indicates the success of services in terms of frequency. If a bus can achieve 247 km in a day, it can run more trips than a bus that covers fewer kilometres.
Interestingly, the minibus services had a VU of only 126 km (per day per bus). These services run primarily in the Charminar area and were introduced in 2010. They connect interior residential networks. However, they seem to have very less run-time on the roads.
The researcher GSR Chaitanya said, “Vehicle Utilization (VU) or KM/Bus/Day has more or less remained the same or increased slightly for all services the TSRTC offers in Hyderabad. However, there has been a drastic fall in VU for minibuses.”
Executive Director of GHZ V Venkateswarlu said that the numbers were less due to the fact that TSRTC only ran one shift of these buses instead of two, unlike other services. “Minibuses have the same operational cost as big buses because the drivers and conductors are paid the same as those of big buses. However, the earnings on the minibus are lesser than the bigger ones due to less capacity size, which makes them less profitable.”
However, experts say that minibuses can help offer last mile connectivity to Metros. In fact, previously, MAUD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar had maintained that minibuses would enhance connectivity to Metros and resolve last mile connectivity concerns.