The night curfew and restrictions on the inter-State transport imposed in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the wake of the spurt in coronavirus cases have a telling effect on the operations of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses in Chittoor district.
The officials said that though the number of services was being drastically reduced following the slump in demand and that services in all rural routes were doing sufficient trips to prevent congestion.
APSRTC Regional Manager (Chittoor) T. Changal Reddy told The Hindu that all bus services bound to Karnataka were following the 50% occupancy norm strictly in tune with the restrictions imposed in that State. Similarly, the services to Tamil Nadu have been stopped on Sundays as lockdown has been enforced in that State.
COVID protocols
“Our field staff have been instructed to enforce mask rule in buses, besides prompting the passengers to follow social distancing. Even as, no restriction has been imposed on seating capacity yet, the slump in occupancy rate helps maintain the social distancing,” said Mr. Reddy.
The official further said that the average the daily passenger count had come down to below 12,000 when compared to the 1 lakh commuters travelling between Tirupati and Tirumala in the pre-CVOVID time. The passenger count has reduced due to the cancellation of issuing of Sarva Darshan token at Tirumala temple.
“We have observed that many devotees now prefer to travel in cars and two-wheelers instead of public transport owing to the fear of contracting the infection ,” said Mr. Changal Reddy.
Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (Chittoor) M. Bhaskar said that the occupancy rate in the RTC buses plying on prime routes between Chittoor district and Bengaluru had come down to below 40%.
Meanwhile, with sharp decline in the number of devotees visiting Tirumala, Srikalahasti and Kanipakam temples in Chittoor district, the RTC officials are adjusting the services to cater to the demand, without giving scope to congestion.
