There were more vacant seats than passengers on board APSRTC buses that started plying in Kurnool and Anantapur districts on Thursday, as services resumed after a gap of almost two months.
Commuters who boarded the buses ensured that they followed all COVID-19 protocols to the letter, officials said.
While digital payments were not activated by the APSRTC, its staff ensured that every person washed their hands with sanitiser and sat only in the demarcated seats in the Express and Ultra Luxury category of buses that ran on some routes. Out of 126 services operated by Kurnool Region, only 104 services could be operated with an overall 1,900 passengers making use of the bus services during the whole day.
“There was, however, great demand for bus services from Kurnool to Vijayawada as there was no other mode of transport available between both cities. As soon as APSRTC opened online reservation, all seats on five buses were fully booked. The buses left at short intervals from 5 p.m. on Thursday. No AC buses were operated. The two Express buses carried 30 passengers each while the three Ultra Deluxe services carried 29 passengers each,” said Regional Manager T. Venkataramam.
Anantapur Region ran only 88 buses out of the 111 planned, as there was no demand with people deciding not to take the risk of travelling. To conform to the COVID-19 protocols, only 60% of the bus occupancy was being allowed, and out of these, not even half the number of passengers arrived at the bus stations anywhere in 12 depots.
Regional Manager Sumanth R. Adoni said that in addition to 12 starting points, 15 intermediate stops were fixed for all the services put together. While the APSRTC has planned to keep all the 111 buses ready, it will run them depending on the demand from the passengers. The social distancing norms were being followed diligently and passengers without masks were not being allowed to board the bus, he said.
