THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the successful launch of the ‘hop-on, hop-off’ city circular bus service in a bid to ease traffic and woo more commuters to public transportation, KSRTC is launching city shuttle services connecting the rural areas and the city from Wednesday. According to officials, the patronage of the city circular service has increased exponentially ever since its launch and the number of passengers has crossed 17,000.
As part of the revamp plan, KSRTC would launch the city shuttle service on a pilot basis from Wednesday. According to officials, Education Minister V Sivankutty will flag off five city shuttle service buses, which will don blue and white colour, from Pravachambalam, Pallichal and Nemom connecting East Fort.
Assistant Transport Officer (ATO) at City Depot N K Jacob Sam Lopez told TNIE that the new service would attract more commuters from the rural areas. “We carried out a survey and Pallichal is one area where a lot of passengers board or disembark buses. We have identified other peripheral areas including Malayinkeezhu, Karakulam, Mannanthala and Kazhakoottam. The shuttle services would be rolled out on these routes soon,” he said.
He said the response to city circular buses is overwhelming. The KSRTC has identified around 15 new routes which would be added as part of the expansion plan.
“We are planning to give it more time before expanding the city circular. The passenger base is growing. When we launched the service, the passenger turnout was less than 3,000 and now the commuter base has increased exponentially. We are expecting it to grow further as more people are coming to know about the service,” Sam Lopez added.
The KSRTC is planning to offer more discounts on ticket rates for passengers depending on the city shuttle and circular services. “Though the city shuttle service ends at East Fort, the commuter can get the ticket to his destination and return ticket from the shuttle bus itself. The person can board the circular bus from East Fort to the desired location using the same journey ticket and there will be an option to book the return ticket at a 10% discount. A person travelling from Pallichal to Medical College back can save around Rs 6 as per our calculation,” said Sam Lopez.
As part of the expansion plan, the authorities are also planning to have electric buses for the circular services soon.
Subhash S, a Vembayam native, who was seen waiting at a bus stop near Sasthamangalam, said the circular bus is a boon for the passengers. “It’s the first time we are getting a dependable bus service in Thiruvananthapuram. The trip from East Fort to Sasthamangalam cost only Rs 10 and if we take an autorickshaw, it would cost more than Rs 100. This is very convenient and I hope more people would use this service to make it more profitable for KSRTC,” said Subhash.
Sreekumar S, another commuter, said the city circular bus covers many byroutes in the capital where there are not many bus services. “Bus services covering Jagathy, Edappazhinji, Pattoor etc were very few earlier. Now, we have several buses. The only problem I noticed is that the passengers are very few. If more people choose to travel by bus, there would be less traffic on the road,” he said.
In the third phase of the initiative, KSRTC is planning to introduce city radial services connecting major towns in the periphery. The corporation launched the city circular bus services in November last year. Currently, the commuters can take a ride in these buses for Rs 10 and the introductory offer would end on Saturday. Currently, the services are available on seven routes.
Budget travel
Currently, the commuters can take a ride in these buses for Rs 10 and the introductory offer would end on Saturday. Currently, the services are available on seven routes.
To make its service more user-friendly, the KSRTC is planning to launch an application that will allow passengers to track buses in real-time. According to officials, the online mobile application is likely to be launched on Wednesday. “Using this application, passengers can easily know the location of the buses while they wait at the bus stop. Our buses are GPS enabled. All the running buses on a day will be available on the app,” said an official of the KSRTC.
