RTC revenue goes up

Visakhapatnam: The RTA drive against private bus operators, violating permit norms, saw a marginal rise both in the occupancy ratio and revenue of the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) in Vizianagaram zone. The rise was significantly observed in buses bound to Hyderabad, Tirupati, Chennai and Bengaluru.

Alarmed by the major road tragedy that left 45 people charred to death in Mahbubnagar district a few weeks ago, the RTA, Visakhapatnam, officials seized around 45 contract carriages plying unofficially as stage carriages.

According to the RTA officials, occupancy in long-distance bus services of APSRTC has risen to six per cent, in the last few days. Executive director of Vizianagaram zone, APSRTC, A. Ramakrishna said a total of 50 long-distance buses, including Garuda and Garuda plus, originate from Vizianagaram zone, which comprises four districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari, everyday.

Sources in the RTC said Vizianagaram zone was earning an additional revenue of Rs 25,000 per day. In a bid to cash in on the situation, the RTC, Vizianagaram zone, is planning to ply additional buses, specially to Hyderabad and Tirupati.

A software engineer, Sunil Kumar, based at Hyderabad told this correspondent that he used to swear by private AC buses. “But this time, I opted a Garuda to reach Hyderabad as I did not find many private services from Vizag,” he said.

However, some private bus operators in the city said despite the Mahbubnagar accident, people still prefer to travel in private services for the facilities. The RTC officials said the corporation will see a good revenue in the future, if the seized private buses do not get back on road for the next six months.