Vijayawada: Service autos gain popularity among commuter post-Covid

Vijayawada: The insufficient number of buses plying on the city roads of Vijayawada, Eluru, Rajamahendravaram and a few other towns in the twin Godavari and Krishna districts left people forced to commute in crammed service autos. The Covid norms of wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing are gone for a toss.

According to Achaiah, who runs a service auto from Kotipalli Bus Stand to Gokavaram Bus Stand, "There are small autos as well as service autos. Small autos are mostly preferred by those who book via mobile apps as well as individuals. But most people prefer to travel in service autos."

The service auto drivers charge Rs 20 from point-to-point, irrespective of the distance.

For example, Rs 20 is charged per person commuting from Devi Chowk to Gokavaram Bus station as well as Pushkar Ghat. The distance between the two points is less than a kilometre.

People crammed on the autos is a daily spectacle with hardly anyone wearing a mask. The social distancing has no place here.

Similarly, service auto charge per person goes up from Rs 20 to Rs 45 to commute from St Theresa's Autonomous College to New RTC Bus Station at Eluru, or from the Eluru Bus Station to the District Courts complex. The distance between the two is not more than two kilometres, claims S Ramesh Chowdary.

Adding, there were marked changes after the Covid second wave. Earlier, only students and those who cannot afford to hire individual autos were preferred to commute on service autos. But, now, there is a sudden spurt in people preferring to commute by service autos. "I carry a maximum of eight to ten people. I ply only on the route between the old and new bus stand. Unless one makes at least Rs 150 to Rs 200 per trip, it is not possible to meet the fuel and rental changes," claims B Lazarus, from Sanivarapupet of Eluru.

When asked about the safety of himself, his family and the commuters, C Durga Rao from Mogalrajpuram of Vijayawada pointed out, "My family of three and I cannot survive without earning minimum per trip per day. So, I have no other option but to fetch reasonably good number from eight to 12 persons per trip. That gives me about Rs 200. Sometimes, we may not get more than four to five commuters per trip," he added.

Further, he, too, views that the number of people opting to commute by service autos is not the same across Vijayawada. There are buses plying in some routes. However, in many of the places, they may not get the buses on time. That is the reason the service autos come in handy for the people to get into.

Regarding safety, he said, people stopped bothering wearing a mask for the past one to one and a half month. Initially, I tried asking people to wear masks. But, it might turn away passengers from getting into the auto. It is not possible to maintain social distancing when it comes to service autos, he makes it clear.