City circular service revenue goes up by 150% in 11 months

Thiruvananthapuram: The city circular service introduced by the KSRTC has recorded a 150% increase in revenue within 11 months. The report was furnished in the legislative assembly. The cumulative income from the city circular services till November was Rs 7.28 crore. About 64 buses were made available for city circular service in the city which began from November 2021.
Going by the figures, the revenue from the city circular services has picked up steadily since December 2021. By March 2022, the figures crossed Rs 50 lakh and once the academic year set in, the monthly revenue increased further with figures from June, July and August accounting for a cumulative collection of over Rs 2 crore. The monthly collection went above Rs 80 lakhs in October and November.
A month into the introduction of the service, KSRTC grossed Rs 32 lakhs and by November 2022 the collection touched Rs 82 lakhs.
The city circular services were implemented in such a way to link the government offices, educational institutions and tourist spots. The ‘good day tickets’ have also been implemented for the passengers to travel in the city circular buses for 24 hours of time at a charge of Rs 50. This project was aimed at seven circular routes in the first stage of the programme. The authority later brought eight more routes to the next level of the programme.
In order to identify the routes quickly, different colours, including red, blue, magenta, yellow, violet, brown and green were allocated for each route.
The KSRTC also implemented the interchange method to ease the transportation by which a passenger could travel from one place to another without having to reach the heart of the city. The interchange method helps the transportation easier by allowing the passengers to interchange the bus at certain places.
The interchange points are the stops where more than one route bus meets. About 24 interchange points have been implemented in seven routes.
The number of bus services was adjusted based on the availability. Minimum charge for the city circular service is Rs 10 and the maximum is Rs 30. For the successful implantation of the scheme, 278 bus stops were selected and low floor buses were used in order to make the passengers comfortable.
The commuters can also use travel cards by using the RFID system. Unified numbers have also been allotted to each bus stop.