The fear of the officials at the helm of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) that the decision to do away with the hike in fares for special buses pressed into service this festival season would cause a dent in its revenue has proved to be unfounded.
The APSRTC has so far earned a revenue of ₹5.5 crore on the 2,100 special buses it operated to cater to the needs of the festival crowd across the State. In the post-festival days, the corporation plans to run 2,400 special buses.
Last year, the corporation had earned a revenue of ₹2.10 crore during the corresponding period. However, the number of special buses operated were only 1,020.
During the festival season every year, the government permits the APSRTC to collect 50% extra fare in the special buses to help the fund-starved organisation shore up its revenues.
During the Dasara this year, the government decided not to increase the bus fares. Consequently, the fleet of the State-owned APSRTC buses served the commuters without charging any extra money.
The strategy worked, as a large population of commuters ditched the private buses and also the buses belonging to the neighbouring Telangana, and travelled by the APSRTC buses.
The decision to collect regular charges also attracted families which, otherwise, would have relied on their private vehicles, said an official.
Special buses were also plied to cater to the needs of the devotees on Bhavani deeksha.
Buses to Arunachalam
For the first time, the APSRTC plied special buses to Arunachalam, an important Shaivite temple at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu on a pilot basis.
Ten special buses were operated to the neighbouring State from Prodduturu, Jammalamadugu, Nellore and Narsaraopet. The response was very encouraging as all the buses were loaded with people thronging the temple to undertake ‘Giripradakshina’ during the ‘pournami’ days.
“We now plan to include this destination in our temple tourism list,” said an official.
