Crores of money has been invested to buy 10 Volvo Multi Axle Semi Sleeper buses by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. But even after operating these buses for almost a month, KSRTC is still struggling to get adequate number of passengers.
The main problem with these services are
1) Improper Timings
Most of the buses starts from the departure places too early and reached Bangalore in odd timings. For eg, Volvo bus from Kottayam starts at 4 PM and reached Bangalore by 4 AM. This is a great blunder. Why can’t they operate this service from Kottayam at 6 PM and schedule to reach Bangalore by 6 AM? Most of the private operators do like this to get more number of passengers. Because people prefer to leave home late and to reach Bangalore before 6 AM, so that they can go to work after fresh up.
The next example i would like to point out is a Bangalore service operating from Thiruvananthapuram via Kozhikode, Mysore. That bus depart from TVM at 5 PM and reach Bangalore by 11 Am the next day. Does anyone will prefer to travel by this? But according to corporation, they are getting enough number of local passengers in between TVM and EKM, TVM to Kozhikode, EKM to Kozhikode, Kozhikode to Mysore etc. There my question is, Then why are you operating this service from TVM to Blore instead you can operate this bus from TVM to Mysore or Kozhikode to Bangalore. If you have to target passengers to Bangalore, you have to operate the buses with proper timings and advanced reservation facility. At present in these buses, passengers can do the advance reservation from TVM to Mysore, TVM to Bangalore, ALP to Blore, EKM to Blore etc. But nobody can book a ticket from TVM to Kozhikode, EKM to Mysore or even from Thrissur to Bangalore.
2) Inefficient and Improper Advance Reservation Portal
Kerala RTC is having a worst and non professional online reservation website with limited features for passengers. The main problem is with boarding points and fare stages. Corporation has to provide fare stages from various boarding points, instead of charging the fare from the service originating place. For eg, Passenger has to pay the fare from Thrissur to Bangalore, if he wanted to reserve a ticket in Kottayam/Ernakulam Blore service. But the same time, he can get the return tickets by paying the fare only till Thrissur from Bangalore on the same buses.
By implementing proper reservation system for long distance buses, KSRTC can definitely increase their income from service operation. For eg, A person wanted to travel from Ernakulam to Kannur in our Kannur Deluxe and if he wanted to get an advance ticket he has to pay the fare from TVM and board the bus from EKM. For the same amount, he can travel by an AC private service which is starting from Ernakulam. So what would he prefer? Does he wait at Ernakulam for that bus coming from TVM without having a confirmation about the availability of seats?
For setting up a reservation counter, KSRTC is spending lakhs of rupees. But by using a tablet or a mini computer, they can come down with this price to 10-20 thousand. And can start reservation counters anywhere when it needs. But their EDPC (Electronic Data Processing Center) is having leaders with outdated mindset and lack of technical education.
3) Lack of Blankets
If you have ever traveled in an AC bus, you will come to know about the need of a blanket. Especially during night journey. Kerala RTC might be the one and only bus operator in the world who is not providing any blankets for the passengers. At the same time our main competitors like Karnataka RTC and all other private operators are providing blankets and a bottle of mineral water without any hesitation. Its been almost a month that our new buses has come up to the fleet after a long wait at the Volvo bus factory in Bangalore. Do we need this much of time to buy some couple of blankets? Who cares it?
4) High Fare, compared to Karnataka RTC
Kerala RTC charges high fare compare to Karnataka RTC. According to the officials, they speak about the inter state agreement and all blah blah blah nonsense. But the fact is that, when a common man look at the fare, our buses charges high without even having any basic amenities for passenger.
Dear KSRTC, Please try to understand that we are going in to loss day by day and activities like this will invite much more loss to the corporation. As we all know, first impression is always the best impression. Let us dont spoil the first impressions of more people on our buses worst. Just do something ( I mean something) immediately to make this buses more passenger friendly and we can assure that the buses will not run empty in future.
Because, we are experts in Internet Marketing and we are marketing our KSRTC in social media websites and through our blog, even if you are not willing to cooperate with us. 🙂
Sujith Bhakthan for Team KSRTC Blog
