APSRTC’s OR increases by three per cent, thanks to summer holidays

Demand is more for the Telugu-Velugu rural services to Narsipatnam, Paderu, Anakapalle and a few other places.
Heavy rush of passengers at APSRTC bus complex in Vizag on Thursday | express
Heavy rush of passengers at APSRTC bus complex in Vizag on Thursday | express

VISAKHAPATNAM:  With numerous wedding ceremonies and village festivals taking place this summer, there has been a huge demand for RTC bus services, including AC vehicles. This year, the RTC has seen a 3 per cent increase in the Occupancy Rate (OR) compared to last year and the daily revenue also rose compared to the income earned in the previous months. 

Though every year RTC bus services are on huge demand during summer vacation, this year the number of ceremonies has increased substantially, pushing up the revenue of the state-owned public transport company. The demand is more than the seating capacity and more services are operated in a day. With th fleet strength of 1,107 buses in Visakhapatnam region which include city, AC and non-AC buses, all the buses are full from morning to night in all schedules. This year, depending upon the demand, RTC added eight more AC buses to its existing fleet of 43.

According to RTC Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (CTM) Venkata Rao, this year the passenger traffic went up to 80 per cent which is 3 per cent increase, especially on the long distance routes. Demand is more for the Telugu-Velugu rural services to Narsipatnam, Paderu, Anakapalle and a few other places. 

With 180 buses on rural routes, the demand is more than the seating capacity. Additional buses are being run for the last one month and the services would continue for another few weeks. Since the demand on long-distance routes to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kakinada, Amalapuram, Rajahmundry and Odisha has increased, the officials had to operate additional bus services. “From the daily revenue of Rs 96 lakh, the region has achieved Rs 1.14 crore. If the trend continues for a few more weeks, losses are likely to be reduced,” said Venkata Rao. 

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