Proper transportation facility has always been a cause for concern for the employees of Technopark, were over 40,000 techies work. Techbus, an initiative of Technopark, which began operations to Technopark from certain points in the city keeping in mind the traffic woes of techies, has evoked big response among them. The Techbus service, exclusively to ferry techies, was launched a month ago.
Anand Shankar, operations manager, Hara Business Group, said the travel company is doing better than expected, with busses running full. “Technopark CEO had approached us saying that traffic was a big concern with frequent road blocks on the highway leading to the IT Park. On any given week day around 5000 cars make its way to the park. There aren’t many KSRTC low-floor busses to the park. The KSRTC 6pm bus to Peroorkada is always full,” Shankar said.
Hara conducted a survey six months ago, and received conformations and early bookings. “We started with the main routes absolutely free for three days to gauge the response of the commuters. Then we officially began service on May 5 offering monthly or weekly passes. As of now there are only a few seats left,” he added.
The travel company has billed over Rs 50,000 in the first month. On a monthly basis techies pay Rs 1,320 for travelling up to 10km, Rs 1,800 between 10km and 20km and Rs 2,600 for 20+km. The buses to Technopark originate at Peyad (7am) and Pappanamcode and Vatiyoorkavu at 8am.
“I am happy with the new services. There is an AC, monthly seats are guaranteed. There is also GPS tracking, bus arrival messages will be sent periodically, so I don’t have to wait endlessly. The App to track the bus also ensures that our whereabouts while on the bus is known,” said Sheeba K, a techie who has availed the service.
There are possibilities of starting new routes like Venjaramoodu, we have received some enquires. If there are more than 10 confirmed passengers, we will start services on the route, Shankar added.
A mobile application for Techbus will be launched on Tuesday. The application will enable users to get all information regarding the bus service. M Vasudevan, senior manager, business development, Technopark, will launch the app at Parkcenter. The app will provide live updates, live GPS, Spot a shop facility, TechBus routes, timings, etc.
Times of India