Hyderabad: Clamour for increasing frequency of buses

Hyderabad: With the population increasing in the city by leaps and bounds in the last few years and half of the population dependent on public transportation, many travelling by TSRTC buses took to Twitter and requested the Corporation to increase the frequency of buses.

According to TSRTC officials, earlier before Covid pandemic, around 3,500 buses used to ply on city roads and around 33 lakh passengers used to utilise the services. However, at present, there are around 2,500 buses plying with the RTC pulling out a few buses as it was incurring losses.

Aggrieved over this, daily passengers pointed out that in every area there was an immediate need for increasing the frequency of buses, especially in Nizampet, Jeedimetla, Tarnaka, Kompally and Ghatkesar, as passengers were seen waiting for the buses for long. Also, many locals have requested to restore a few buses, as these buses were hardly seen plying that include 195 W (Bachupally –Waverock), 299\49 (Medchal to Mehdipatnam), 83 J (Jeedimetla to Kachiguda), 8M (Secunderabad Central Bus Station, to Gowliguda) and 8S (Secunderabad Junction to Tolichowki).

"Almost on all the routes, the TSRTC buses are not plying frequently. Due to this, people are opting for alternative modes of transport. Recently, I have submitted a written representation to TSRTC requesting them to develop an App where commuters can know where the bus is currently plying so that they can wait accordingly and travel by RTC bus which will generate more revenue for RTC," said Baglekar Akash Kumar, an advocate and a daily commuter.

"Before Covid, there was good frequency of buses at Apoorva Colony, Jeedimetla. But at present, there is an only a single bus 189 M plying in our area that too the bus does not come frequently. We are forced to wait for long. Many times we have urged the officials concerned to increase the frequency and also restore 9X and 83 J in our area, but no concrete step has been taken and it will be better if TSRTC increases the frequency of buses in our area," said Anushka, a daily commuter. "Daily at Nizampet, we are forced to wait for buses at least for 30 minutes. Sometimes, the buses do not halt at the bus stop. Many times, we have complained to the concerned officials to increase the frequency of the RTC buses, but all our pleas fell on deaf ears. It would be better if TSRTC displays timings of each bus at the bus stops," said Kumar, a resident of Nizampet.

V Venkateshwarlu, executive director, TSRTC Greater Hyderabad zone said, "At present, 2,500 buses are plying in the city limits. Before Covid, most of the college students used to use college buses, but after the lockdown, many colleges have stopped operating collage buses, so the students are now opting for RTC buses that is appreciable. But TSRTC cannot operate buses bumper to bumper, we can operate the buses in every 5 or 10 minutes as RTC has very limited resources. To meet the demand, TSRTC is also plying spare buses."