The ministry of urban transport is giving a major push to improve ridership in bus transport services across all major Indian cities by 2020.
Delhi and Pune are targeting a ridership of 80 per cent, while Kolkata and Bangaluru are targeting 90 per cent each.
Unfortunately, poor management and operational inefficiencies are resulting in a plummeting of public transport usage. A RITES survey has highlighted that by 2030, 52 per cent of the Indian public across cities will have switched over to cars and two-wheelers. Already, bus ridership in Delhi has come down from 60 per cent in 2000 to 40 per cent in 2008.
In order to modernise the bus fleets of Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata and other metros, a workshop organised by the Centre for Science and Environment and other stakeholders highlighted that cities are keen to modernise their fleets with the help of the JNNURM bus stimulus program.
But a claque of other measures need to be seen through since the Paris-based International Energy Agency has highlighted that while a bus occupies twice the road space of a carry, it can displace anywhere upto 50 vehicles thereby ensuring enormous oil and pollution saving.
The Central Institute of Bus Transport has calculated bus utilisation rates being poor. In Kolkata, it is 55 per cent but most cities are struggling at an average of 70 per cent.
Delhi shows a high breakdown rate at 2.4 per 10,000 km. Pune is higher at 2.5 per 10,000 effective kms. Kolkata has the highest number of breakdowns and Chennai registers the highest number of accidents.
Experts warn bus reforms require huge investments. Delhi estimated in 2009 that the investment in new buses would require `6,000 crore.
Passenger earnings vary across cities with Bangaluru’s BMTC carrying the largest number of passengers (15,056 lakhs) and registering the highest earnings followed by Mumbai and Chennai.
Constructive interventions make a difference as was witnessed in the NCR where, in 2010-11, the riderhsip of DTC increased by 25 per cent.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, CSE said, “Higher taxation on personal vehicles will help provide additional revenue for public transport”.