Dasara festivities brought cheer to the officials helming the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) as the public sector transport organisation earned an additional revenue of ₹11 crore by running extra buses during this period.
To cater to the needs of the festival crowd, the Corporation operated 5,778 additional services from various districts of the State to Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Vijayawada and other important destinations from October 9 till October 22.
Online system
The large fleet of RTC buses, besides the additional vehicles hired by the corporation, ferried nearly 5.3 lakh people in the pre and post-Dasara holidays, covering an additional distance of 28.90 lakh km.
Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the corporation N.V. Surendra Babu said the highest revenue of ₹20.81 crore was realised on October 22 this season against last year’s ₹19.23 crore during the corresponding period.
He said advance planning to run special services and throwing open to the public the Online Passenger Reservation System (OPRS) platform enabled them to plan their journey and book tickets in advance and paved the way for a hassle-free travel despite heavy rush.
Officers and supervisors were also deployed in Hyderabad and other important bus stations to monitor special operations and to attend to exigencies, if any.
To cut down on travel time, the RTC pressed into service direct special services from important boarding points in Hyderabad without touching any destination en route. Mr. Surendra Babu said proper planning and collective hard work by staff and officials in every stage made it possible and complimented them for the good show.
Surprise checks
APSRTC Chairman Varla Ramaiah on Wednesday made surprise checks in three buses at the Gangur bus stop on the Vijayawada-Machilipatnam route.
He interacted with the passengers for a feedback on the bus services and the behaviour of the bus crew and later, speaking to the media, expressed satisfaction.
Mr. Ramaiah said the series of reforms introduced by the Managing Director had started yielding result. Corruption had come down since workers were a happy lot now.
The APSRTC Chairman said the surprise checks would continue to ensure best services to the commuters.