Rs 1.5 crore Kandivli-BKC AC buses a flop show

The airconditioned AC buses operating in the city have got an icy reception from the populace Consider the pointtopoint service between Kandivli and Bandra Kurla Complex BKC which was inaugurated with much fanfare by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and his deputy Ajit Pawar in July 2013 and was to be operated by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTCCM Prithviraj Chavan and deputy CM Ajit Pawar inaugurated MSRTCrsquos AC bus service from BKC to Kandivli on July 11 2013 File picSayed Sameer AbediThese AC buses were mainly aimed at attracting whitecollar workers who have a 9 am5 pm job profile and take their private vehicles to work From July 11 when the facility was launched till November last year MSRTC had made losses to the tune of Rs 61 lakh The lack of positive response from people was apparent within the first week itselfPrithviraj Chavan inaugurating MSRTCrsquos AC bus service from BKC to Kandivli on July 11 2013 File picSayed Sameer AbediMSRTC had to reduce the oneway trip tariff from Rs 140 to Rs 100 but it didnrsquot have the desired result In fact corporation officials wanted to shut down the service completely owing to the losses and December 31 2013 was set as the deadline to reach a decision Sources said that they also planned to approach the office of the chief minister seeking permission to discontinue the facilityIntercity routeNow however MSRTC functionaries have decided to make amendments to the route and make it an intercity rather than the current intracity service ldquoThe Kandivli to BKC AC bus route will be extended till Pune as it was incurring lossesrdquo said Vikas Kharge Managing Director MSRTCThe officials added that they are doing this to salvage their financial damages The authorities had expected to earn Rs 5217 for every kilometre on this route but they managed only Rs 27 Moreover they were able to bring in only Rs 422 lakh till November after ferrying barely 20 passengers on each trip Sources say the corporation is running two buses on this course each costing about Rs 75 lakhRs 80 lakhldquoMSRTC was given time till December but it continued to suffer losses and the response has not been as expected So we have allowed the service to be extended till Punerdquo said SK Sharma principal secretary transport Transport experts claim that Mumbaikars always racing against the clock is one of the biggest reasons behind the failure of AC buses ldquoIt is not just about comfort The AC bus services also need to be reliable and punctualrdquo said a consultant who works for the state governmentAnalysts maintain that unless a dedicated lane for buses is started this mode of public transport will continue to remain stuck in traffic and congestion ldquoThe frequency of these AC buses should be at least one every 15 minutes Running them in such heavy traffic doesnrsquot help people and so they prefer taking the train which at least allows them to reach fasterrdquo said A Shenoy transport expertOfficials in state transport department feel that the proposed parking policy of the civic body could help in reducing usage of private vehicles ldquoWhen parking rates increase we can hope that people would start leaving their cars behind and take these busesrdquo said a senior transport department representative