Coimbatore: Five months after the state government relaxed the lockdown norms and allowed the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) to resume bus service, the number of passengers has gone up in the district.
On an average, 5.5 lakh people used TNSTC buses per day this month and the corporation earned Rs 70 lakh per day, which is 70% of the pre-lockdown footfall and revenue.
While town buses resumed operations from September 1, inter-district buses were operated from September 7 in the state. The government allowed the buses to operate with 100% occupancy from December 7.
“In September, people were scared of Covid-19 infection and were reluctant to use public transportation. Footfall of government buses was just 40,000 per day and the revenue was just Rs 25 lakh. But as the number of Covid-19 cases dropped and the government relaxed the lockdown norms, the footfall and the revenue increased, even though pre-lockdown target is not achieved,” a TNSTC official said. “On an average, 5.5 lakh people use TNSTC buses a day and the revenue is Rs 70 lakh a day, whereas the average passenger count and revenue during the pre-lockdown period was nine lakh and Rs 1.10 crore per day.”
TNSTC is now operating 850 buses, including 570 town buses in the district, and mofussil buses to districts like Salem, Madurai and Trichy. It operated 190 special vehicles for 13 days from January 8 during the Pongal season, which conducted 1,182 trips and earned the corporation Rs 1.62 crore.
The number of vehicles operated is 19% lesser than the previous year and the revenue has dropped by 30%, the official said. “The pandemic is not the only reason for the drop in the footfall. Due to the ongoing flyover works on Mettupalayam Road, Avinashi Road, Trichy Road and Ukkadam Road, the time taken to reach the destination has gone up. On Mettupalayam Road, TNSTC has suspended service for four stoppings, which has hit the footfall. We hope the footfall will increase once educational institutions open and flyover works are completed,” he added.
There is good passenger turnout during peak hours, said M Velankanni Raj, a bus driver and the general secretary of the Coimbatore unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. “During the lockdown period, many passengers changed their mode of transportation and some companies started plying own vehicles for employees. Those people would account for 20% of our footfall,” he said.