RTCs to run fewer trips on May 9, 10 as buses go on election duty

Wheels of poll machinery

Expect fewer buses on May 9 and 10 as Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) will rent out more than 40 per cent of their fleet for election-related work across Karnataka.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has so far booked 3,700 KSRTC, 2,000 KKRTC and 1,871 BMTC buses for ferrying tens of thousands of polling personnel. It will likely requisition another 2,000 buses from the NWKRTC, officials said.

These 9,571 buses translate into about 42 per cent of the RTCs’ total fleet size of about 24,000 buses. The overall numbers may rise further, according to officials.

RTC officials said bus requisition was standard practice during every election. They acknowledged that bus services would be affected, but hoped the impact would be “minimal” because of “low” demand.

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With May 10 (polling day) being a public holiday, officials said the main impact would be seen only on May 9. V Anbukumar, Managing Director, KSRTC, said: “It’s our duty to spare buses for such a vital task as elections. We will ensure that the impact on general traffic is minimal.”

He exuded confidence that demand would be “low” on May 10 because offices and industries give employees a day off to vote. “We actually make losses on polling day,” he told DH.

The KSRTC will spare only Karnataka Sarige (ordinary) buses. There will be no impact on luxury buses (Rajahamsa, Airavat, Ambaari, etc) or interstate services, he added.

As many as 3,000 of the 3,700 KSRTC buses have been sought on May 9 alone. Buses will be spared proportionately from the KSRTC’s 84 depots, another official said.

A BMTC official said the number of buses requested by the ECI might fall slightly.

Santosh Kumar, Chief Traffic Manager, KKRTC, said the services would be “slightly” affected as 2,000 of their 4,500 buses would be spared. “Headway will drop on many routes. For example, if we usually run five buses on a particular route, we will run only three on May 9 and 10,” he said.

An official from the NWKRTC said the ECI was expected to send them a requisition for about 2,000 buses or about 35 buses per assembly constituency.

“People will have to adjust for a day and travel on crowded buses that run at long intervals,” he said.

The ECI has also requisitioned thousands of vehicles such as vans and Jeeps from the Transport Department, an official said. KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC buses will cost Rs 57.5 per km or up to Rs 11,500 per day.