KSRTC makes fresh plea for 15 city routes under JnNURM

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru division of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has moved the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) afresh for 15 routes to operate city buses funded by Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM).
The RTA convened a meeting on April 30 to elicit feedback from the public. At the meeting, the authority as well as the commuters had urged the KSRTC to identify the routes where services operated by private buses are less and where there is need for more buses.Incidentally, the authority, which had issued permits for 18 out of 35 JnNURM buses that KSRTC sought, was reluctant to give rest of the permits from State Bank of India main branch terminus on the ground that the terminus does not have capacity for more buses.
The KSRTC conducted traffic survey thereafter to gauge potential of the routes demanded.
Vivekananda Hegde, KSRTC divisional controller, said the benefit to commuters as well as the operational sustainability are the two factors that KSRTC considers before finalising routes.
Many destinations that the division has identified and will be serviced from the terminus have minimal public transport service. They are Land Links, Boliyar, Ira, Eliyarpadavu, Adyapadi, Porkodi, Akash Bhavan and Shediguri.
In addition to these less-served routes, the KSRTC is also open to suggestions to operate services on circular routes, clockwise and anti-clockwise. This will deploy two buses on equal number of circular routes identified if permits are given. The circular routes are SBI main branch terminus-Kudroli-Ladyhill-Bejai-Kadri Kambala-Mallikatte-Bendorewell-Mangaladevi-Bolar-Pandeshwara-SBI main branch terminus and Falnir-Highland-Kankanadi-Pumpwell-Naguri-Alape-Padil-Kembar-Maroli-Bikarnakatte-Bunts Hostel-SBI main branch terminus. "The circular routes proposed will give us the leeway to help commuters to travel in the central business district areas of the city with greater ease," the KSRTC divisional controller said.
The RTA recently has given permit to the KSRTC to operate a city bus service from State Bank of India main branch terminus to Ullaibettu, which is around 14km from the city off Mangaluru-Moodbidri National Highway. Hegde said there is much demand for this service and a Grameena Saarige bus introduced by the division is doing five round trips every day on the route. This is not directly related to JnNURM services mooted, he said.