Bale Right Poyee! After Over 2 Months Bus Services Resume to Cater to Needs of Commuters

Bale Right Poyee! After Over 2 Months Bus Service (City, Rural, Service, Express Buses) Resume to Cater to the needs of Commuters. Between 7 am-8 am, this morning there were only 5-10 (some buses had only 1 or 2) passengers in the buses, and the bus crew were not happy. The minimum fare for the first stage on City bus service has been revised to Rs 10 (a hike of Rs 2). Fares on important inter-district routes –Mangaluru-Manipal from Rs 68-Rs 85; Mangaluru-Udupi-57 to 80; Mangaluru-Karkala via Padubidri-55 to 65; Mangaluru-Kundapur-100 to 120; Udupi-Kundapur- 45 to 55; Mangaluru-Karkala via Moodbidri- 52 to 62; Udupi-Karkala via Hiriadka-40 to 45

Mangaluru : “Bale right Poyee”- that’s right, something that commuters who were used to hear daily while traveling on City or Service buses, is back again in the air, but not in large, since only a portion of the nearly 3000 (city, rural, service, express) buses are operating today, 1 June. But the response from the commuters was very unsatisfactory, since every bus that started plying this morning, between 7 am- 8 am had only 5- 10 (in some buses 1-2) passengers. At the moment only 25% of the buses are operating during this first week, which may increase to 50%, if there is good response. It is noted that many people don’t want to use the bus service due to the fear of Covid-19 scare.

Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Dilraj Alva, the President of Dakshina Kannada District Bus Owners’ Association said, “We knew that there would be not many passengers being the first day, and also that many people want to wait and see due to the fear of the spread of Coronavirus disease. We have only increased the fare by Rs 2 ( 0-4 km is Rs 10) which is reasonable compared to what commuters have been paying for other mode of their travel. The fare increase was followed as per the guidelines issued by the authorities, but unfortunately we won’t be able to give any concessions of ticket fare at the moment. Even though we had faced huge losses during the lockdown, and also that the government and district administration have not met couple of our demands, but we still decided on resuming the service today, as a kind gesture towards the commuters who depend on bus facility for their travel to work or other engagements”.

Seen in the photo L- R : Dilraj Alva- President of DKDBOA; Nisheeth (Driver) & Lohith (Conductor) of Bus No 27; and Prashanth-owner of Rajalakshmi Transport (Bus No 15- State Bank-Surathkal)

“The reason for fare hike is due to the fact that we are allowed to ferry only 30 passengers in order to adhere to the social distancing guidelines, and people should know that the fare hike has been done after 5-6 years, even though the petrol price, and price vehicle parts/tyres had gone up. The passengers limit, and to wear face mask, hand gloves and sanitize usage, has been explained to the drivers and conductors. We will clean and sanitize the buses at the end of the day. Even though the state government has given nod for 15% hike in fares, but this price revision is not enough to cover costs, the fares have been rounded off to avoid change-related issues. Operational cost will also go up with the need to sanitize bus after each trip. In the meantime, DKBOA. has already launched an initiative to go cashless with its Chalo Card for passengers. CBOA has taken steps to convert the CCB passes (already issued to commuters) into cash card on the lines of Chalo Card. Money will be refunded to hose who have already paid for the bus pass prior to lockdown” added Alva.

Dilraj Alva further said, “Even though, there are 325 city buses in Dakshina Kannada, 85 buses in Udupi, of which only 135 buses would operate in Dakshina Kannada and about 20 – 22 buses in Udupi today. Right now between 25-30% of the buses will operate, and depending on the situation, we may increase it to 50%. We have only increased the fare by Rs 2 on City buses, but the revised fare on Mangaluru-Manipal is hiked from Rs 68-Rs 85; Mangaluru-Udupi-57 to 80; Mangaluru-Karkala via Padubidri-55 to 65; Mangaluru-Kundapur-100 to 120; Udupi-Kundapur- 45 to 55; Mangaluru-Karkala via Moodbidri- 52 to 62; Udupi-Karkala via Hiriadka-40 to 45.

“While operating the buses we would comply with all standard operating procedures issued by the government and buses would provide service only between 7 AM to 7 PM every day. Unfortunately, the govt has waived the road tax only for two months, out of three months that we had asked for. We hope that the govt will agree upon our demands, so we can carry on with the service, in order to avoid further losses. We also request the commuters to coperate with us by following social distancing, wearing face masks and other Covid-19 guidelines” added Alva.