Private bus operators in the city have yet again raked up the issue of route rationalisation, citing disproportionate allocation of permits for various routes without any scientific study on commuter density.
“Permits are issued by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) without taking into account the demand for services on various routes. Hence, there are instances of excess services on some routes and inadequate services on others. Re-routing, rescheduling, and route rationalisation will help address the traffic logjam in the city and minimise unnecessary services when there is scant demand for them, besides bringing down mad competition among private buses,” said M.B. Satyan of PBOA.
Bus operators have raised the demand at RTA meetings time and again, but to no avail. The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD), however, expressed helplessness, citing post-amendment Motor Vehicles Act 1988, which was quite liberal when it came to permit allocation.
Fresh permits“Except in the case of permit allocation, which is limited to 700 in Kochi, the Act makes it incumbent on the RTA to grant permit on an application filed by a bus owner subject to time settlement. Despite these limitations, the RTA tries to judiciously regulate granting of fresh permits. The RTA’s decision not to grant fresh permits to buses older than five years is part of efforts in this direction,” Ernakulam Regional Transport Officer P.H. Sadik Ali said. According to transportation expert Dijo Kappen, it is high time the authorities looked at routes hitherto not served by the public transport network. He cited the case of Panamppilly Nagar, a thriving residential and commercial area housing the Passport Office, which is frequented by thousands.
Mr. Ali, however, said while the KSRTC could operate services to such new routes, grant of permits to private players would depend on close scrutiny of applications.
