Free RTC Travel for Women Raises Occupancy Ratio to 74 From 69 per Cent
Govt reimburses fares; women welcome relief despite early hiccups
Vijayawada: As Andhra Pradesh government has launched the free bus travel facility for women in APSRTC buses across the state from August 15, it has helped improve occupancy ratio to 74 from the earlier 69 per cent.
RTC has a total fleet of 11,000 buses. In the case of 8,400 buses that allow free travel for women, the occupancy ratio has registered a whopping 80 per cent on average per day.
This hike is expected to fetch good revenue to the RTC as the state government reimburses the ticket charges to the RTC.
The RTC faced trouble initially as some incidents occurred at the start of the free service. In one incident, some women passengers exchanged blows while in a mad rush to get seats in the buses. There were also some incidents of women falling down from the moving buses and suffering minor injuries. These incidents apart, the Stree Shakti travel scheme is successfully being implemented across the state.
Initially, the RTC did not allow free travel in their buses on the ghat roads, for fear that the buses packed beyond capacity might lead to road mishaps. However, this restriction was later lifted, with an instruction that buses need not carry standing passengers on ghat roads. There, however, is an exception for ghats roads in Tirupati, where free travel is not allowed in RTC buses in the temple town.
The RTC is allowing women to avail free travel in merged mandals up to Bhadrachalam in Telangana even though it falls under the category of inter-state bus route. These buses travel from AP to Telangana and back to AP, a 2-km distance.
This route is called ’Enclave Route’ and free travel is being allowed there, giving much relief to the women in the merged mandals.
Women are allowed to have free travel to visit local temples through weekly specials to attend temple festivals and Jataras being conducted on a regular basis in Ravulapalem, parts of East Godavari district and at other places.
APSRTC executive director (operations) Appala Raju said, “We are witnessing increased occupancy ratio in our buses and are making efforts to ensure there is no trouble to women to avail the free travel facility.”
Meanwhile, there is a plea from women to run free buses in several routes across the state.
