Lack of service roads and proper planning hurting TSRTC operations in the city City’s slowcoach buses average 8kmph during peak hrs

300 CRORE SANCTIONED TO DIG TSRTC OUT OF CASH CRISIS

There’s a reason why many in the city do not use the city’s buses for commuting.

In a report by the executive director of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, it has been revealed that city buses are simply crawling at an average speed of just eight kilometres per hour during peak hours.

This is the first time one of TSRTC’s chief troubles is being quantified.

A TSRTC official said, “The traffic volume has increased considerably but Hyderabad’s urban planning methods have not evolved at all. There are no service roads, the junctions are clogged and motorists continue to abuse bus bays — specifically allotted for mass transit vehicles.”

The official added that ongoing civil works, along several routes, too were troubling movement buses in the city.

The slow pace of buses is also why many in the city prefer private vehicles while commuting between points.

The TSRTC operates around 3,000 buses in Hyderabad. But the neighbouring capital city of Bengaluru — with a slightly higher population and area — operates a whopping 6,700 buses. The total number of routes too are higher. To increase the of number of buses, the TSRTC will need at least `750 crore, as each bus costs about `25 lakhs. But an increase in the number of vehicles is also not the solution, according to senior transport officials

“If we increase the number of TSRTC buses operating in the city, people will just end up waiting inside buses, in mile-long traffic jams. Now, there’s just waiting at bus-stands. The roads need to clear up first,” a senior official from the transport body said. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday directed officials to grant `300 crore as immediate financial assistance to the TSTRC. It is hoped this fund influx will help prevent the ongoing financial crisis in the transport body. From this amount, `350 crore will be spent buying new buses.

Mr Rao also held a meeting with ministers and senior officials. The CM also asked officials to pay `500 crore to the TSRTC towards subsidy bills on account of bus passes to various sections of society.