CHENNAI: The State government on Friday justified the hike in bus fares claiming the ticket cost was just not enough to sustain the loss-making public bus transport units. How then is it that private town buses operated in cities like Coimbatore and Tiruchy and on certain stretches have been making a profit even with the same old fares?
In fact, the profitable private bus services in these cities were actually making an annual profit between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 25 lakh per bus.
For example, the Villupuram division of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) operates 10 buses on the 147 km-long stretch between Chennai and Arani in Tiruvannamalai district as compared to four buses by private players on the same route. On an average, a private bus makes a collection of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,500 a trip and it goes up to Rs 7,500 to Rs 8,500 during peak hours and festival seasons.
However, a TNSTC bus collects only about Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 a trip on normal days and Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 during peak hours and festival seasons. This translates into an annual profit of Rs 16-18 lakh for a private bus. However, a TNSTC bus makes a profit of just Rs 1.5 lakh.
People in the know say the reasons are plenty. Public transport corporations are burdened with the necessity to serve interior areas that do not yield profits, besides having to ply school students and senior citizens for free.
But some activists say that it is hard to explain why public transport buses don’t make much of a profit even in a city such as Chennai where they enjoy complete monopoly and the demand is huge.