Bengaluru: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has started preliminary talks on starting services from city areas with large concentration of Keralites to attract more passengers and boost revenue. Officials visited Whitefield and KR Puram this week to explore the possibility of starting services from those areas.
A team led by ATO A.T. Ahmed Kutty examined the BMTC bus stands in those areas and surveyed the distance from the satellite stand to those bus stands, the time taken to reach those stands and the facilities available for bus staff.
The KSRTC operates services from four points in Bengaluru – Santhinagar, Kalasipalyam and Peenya and the original satellite bus stand on the Mysuru Road. The experiment has paid off. The corporation will start a trial run from the Koramangala BMTC depot by the end of this month. The corporation is also planning to start a service from Electronics City.
Private bus operators have been introducing feeder service buses to attract passengers to Kerala from Whitefield, K R Puram and Marthahalli. Many IT professionals rely on these services to board buses starting from Madiwala and Kalasipalyam.
Franchises for ticket booking on the anvil
KSRTC has set in motion a system to make available its tickets through private franchisees. The corporation has invited tenders on its website from aspiring franchisees in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Goa.
KSRTC tickets are currently available only through the corporation’s website or the counters at the bus depots. The corporation is mulling a change to the way it sells tickets following reports that inter-state buses and buses from the Karnataka SRTC sell most of their tickets through private franchisees. An increase in the number of passengers after the introduction of a ticketing system has encouraged the corporation to make ticketing more flexible and accessible.
Aspiring franchisees have to submit a DD for Rs 1,000 along with the application. The corporation will give out temporary franchises for the initial six months. A three-year contract would follow if the services are found satisfactory. Franchisees will have to deposit Rs 25,000. For details, log on to www.keralartc.com .
Areas in Bengaluru for franchises
Bommanahalli, Billekkahalli, BTM Layout, Electronic City, Ganganagar, Gottigere, Indira Nagar, Jalahalli, Kengeri, Madiwala, Yashwantpur and Jayanagar.
Other places in Karnataka
Ankola, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Bellari, Chennapatna, Chitradurga, Dharmastala, Gundalpet, Hassan, Hubballi, Karwar, Kollur, Kolar, Kundapura, Madikeri, Mandya, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Nanjangud, Periyapatna, Puttur, Ramnagara, Shivamoga, Sullia, Tumakuru, Udupi, Vijayapura and Virajpet.
News: Manorama Online
