THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The public continued to avoid passenger buses on the second day as the concerns over increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and impact of lockdown weighed heavily on the commuting choices of people. Despite the lukewarm response, state-owned KSRTC operated over 1,200 services incurring losses in the form of operational expenses. Private buses also started service although in limited numbers across the state, a day after the bus owners agreed with government to restart the services. The increase in bus fare has not helped the operators to meet the expenses.
Hence chances are high for KSRTC and private operators to cut down the number of schedules in the coming days. KSRTC which started the service on May 20 made a loss of around `60 lakh on the first day. It operated 1,319 schedules for 2.12 lakh kilometres. For every kilometre the bus service made a loss of `9. If the salary of crew is included the loss margin would be widened to `28. There were less number of passengers in rural areas when compared to district centres.
The KSRTC managed to operate more services during the peak time on all major routes on Thursday. “It will take some more time to understand the demand and manage the schedules accordingly,” said an officer of KSRTC. “If the situation continues we will have to depend totally on government aid.” The stage carrier was able to manage its operational expenses even during inancial crisis. But the private bus operators say they would be forced to cancel some of the loss-making services. “The KSRTC will get government aid. But we do not have such back-up to cover up the loss,” said Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation.