THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To resolve the travel woes and improve last-mile connectivity, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is gearing up to expand the recently launched city shuttle services to more suburbs within the 15-km radius of the capital. KSRTC had launched city shuttle services from Pravachambalam, Nemom and Pallichal last month. Similarly, city shuttle services are available from Neyyatinkara. Six buses have been deployed on the Neyyatinkara — Thampanoor route.
KSRTC plans to make Vikas Bhavan and Palayam the main interchange hubs for the shuttle services. According to officials, the response to the pilot service at Pallichal was overwhelming. The buses would ply on the routes every 15 to 30 minutes ensuring comfortable and dependable services for the commuters.
“We had carried out a comprehensive study on the demands of the commuters. The city shuttle service is designed based on the study. We aim to start similar services from suburbs in a 15-kilometre radius of the city. Commuters are demanding more services during peak hours in the morning and evening. The main complaint of the commuters from Pallichal, Nemom and Pravachambalam was that they never get a seat on buses and sometimes, they cannot board the bus because of crowding. With the launch of services at these locations, almost all grievances of commuters are resolved. We are getting an average of 30 to 40 commuters for every trip,” said a official with KSRTC.
According to officials, an average of 17,000 commuters are using the shuttle services every day. “We have increased the frequency of the services during the peak hours in the morning and evening,” the official said.
Mudavanmugal, Malayinkeezhu, Karakulam, Vattappara, Kazhakuttam, Sreekaryam, Kaniyapuram, Pothencode, Akkulam, Anayara, Veli, Kulathoor, Kovalam and Poovar are some of the areas where shuttle buses will ply.
“We aim to complete the expansion by March. Also, we are planning to make Palayam and Vikas Bhavan the main interchange hub of city shuttle buses to avoid congestion at East Fort. We don’t want to terminate all services at East Fort. We plan to improve commuter amenities at Palayam and Vikas Bhavan in the future,” said the official.
The official said passengers getting down at Palayam or Vikas Bhavan can get a bus to reach East Fort.
“With link tickets, commuters can cover the journey at a discounted fare,” the official added.
New plans
KSRTC plans to make Vikas Bhavan and Palayam the main interchange hub for the city shuttle service. There will be a bus every 15 to 20 minutes on the designated routes.