For now, the APSRTC will replace 1,000 buses, 1,200 other private buses hired by it will also be replaced in addition to purchase of 250 high-end air-conditioned buses. Of the total fleet of 12,000 buses, the RTC owns 10,000 buses and the remaining are hired services. “We don’t have so much finance to replace all buses at once, and so we will take it up in a phased manner,” says Mr. Sambasiva Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of APSRTC. “In the next three months, we intend to add another 200-250 high-end buses,” says Mr. Rao.
Watch out, the bus you are travelling in might be a defunct one. About 50 per cent of APSRTC’s fleet is over-aged and the organisation has the enormous task of replacing it even while battling severe financial crisis. The public transport giant is headed for a crucial year ahead. About 50 per cent of APSRTC buses have crossed the stipulated 6.5 lakh km distance, the yardstick to consider the age of a vehicle.