APSRTC Plans to Turn Bus Stations Into One Stop Shops

In the coming days, bus stations in the state will be one stop shops for entertainment and shopping, apart from meeting the transport needs.

VIJAYAWADA: In the coming days, bus stations in the state will be one stop shops for entertainment and shopping, apart from meeting the transport needs.

Disclosing the plans to mediapersons here on Sunday, APSRTC managing director N Sambasiva Rao said that initially there are plans to convert 100 bus stations across the state to one stop shops, which will also have dental and eye clinics, diagnostic centres, mini-theaters and grocery stores.

Rao said that it was to enhance the non-traffic revenue of APSRTC that was being emphasized by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. “When compared to railways, our non-traffic revenue is insignificant. We are making efforts to change it and have already initiated several measures in that direction like live advertising on buses, inside the buses and at bus stations,” he said.

“This fiscal the total non-traffic revenue of APSRTC is expected to be around Rs 100 crore and efforts are on to enhance the same to Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore in the coming months,” he said.

Explaining his point of view, Rao said that if a person or a family wanted to visit a particularly city either for shopping or for watching a movie or to consult a doctor for minor health ailments, all this could be available at the bus station itself, thus saving money and time. “The space at the bus station complex would be leased out to such activities in the coming days,” the MD said.

The APSRTC MD said that another initiative for enhancing commercial revenue of the organisation was auctioning of the names of the bus station. The MD said that Delhi Metro stations had adopted the method of auctioning the stations and the same proposal would be used here. “In Delhi, Industrial houses are naming the stations for their branding and we too will allow the industrial houses to name the buses through auction, which we expect will fetch some decent revenue to the organisation. However, we will not change the names of the existing bus stations which were named after prominent personalities like Pandit Nehru, NTR etc.,” he said.

APSRTC is contemplating to charge Rs 5 lakh per bus station for the purpose and the name will stay for a period of five years. He said they are also thinking of different ways to enhance the commercial revenue of APSRTC. “Presently, APSRTC is getting revenue through 26 different streams like licence fees on canteens, cycle stands, DOT stalls, advertisement on buses, parcel services, leasing of site etc.,” Rao said.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com