The Hindu 01.12.2010
Minister urges commuters to make use of public transport
Staff Reporter
| JNNURM low-floor services to 10 mofussil towns |
For comfy travel:Minister for Transport Jose Thettayil flagging off air-conditioned, low-floor buses procured under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission in the city Tuesday.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 10 air-conditioned, low-floor Volvo buses, procured by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), started plying from the capital to 10 mofussil towns on Tuesday.
At a function organised at the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation's (KSRTC) city garage at East Fort here, the orange-red buses to Kilimanoor, Venjaramood, Varkala Temple, Attingal, Nedumangad, Kattakada, Neyyar Dam, Neyattinkara, Vizhinjam and Kovalam were flagged-off by Minister for Transport Jose Thettayil.
The decision to operate to mofussil towns was taken by an empowered committee as part of steps to discourage personalised mode of transport and to encourage citizens to use the public transport system, sources said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the services (using buses procured under JNNURM) in the capital were not profitable for KSRTC compared to Kochi. Commuter patronage to the sleek, ergonomically designed buses in Thiruvananthapuram had been poor, Mr. Thettayil said. He called upon the commuters in the district to make use of the services that are ‘punctual, efficient and cheap.'
Dismissing the argument that the fares were high in JNNURM buses, the Minister said one had to pay only Rs.10 for travelling five km compared to the Rs.10 charged for 1.25 km by autorickshaws. “After the fares were fixed, the diesel rates went up. The operating cost is Rs.52 for one km. We are not getting it from the capital. Legislators should play a role in encouraging commuters to use the service,” he said.
A final decision is yet to be taken on who will run the buses purchased under the JNNURM scheme, he said. The KSRTC and the employees are of the opinion that the buses should be run by the Corporation (KSRTC). Under the scheme, City Corporations should operate and manage the buses by creating a special purpose vehicle.
Minister for Ports and Youth Affairs V. Surendran Pillai presided over the function.
Legislators George Mercier, Varkala Kahar, N. Rajan, and Mankode Radhakrishnan; KSRTC Managing Director in-charge S. Rajasekaran Nair, councillor Usha Satheesh and KSRTC officers attended.
Fares
The fare from Thiruvananthapruam to Varkala Temple will be Rs.86; Nedumangad and Neyattinkara Rs.34; Attingal Rs.56; Neyyar Dam Rs.48; Kilimanoor Rs.64; Venjaramood Rs.44; Vizhinjam Rs.26; Kovalam Rs.26 and Kattakada Rs.38. The services will be from 5.30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on all days.
The JNNURM services were introduced in the capital using eight low-floor, air-conditioned buses in November 17 last year.
Another eight non-air conditioned buses were added to the fleet later and services were extended to the suburbs.
As many as 350 modern buses are to be introduced in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram in phases using Rs.124.5 crore made available under the JNNURM. Under the scheme, 30 low-floor and 120 semi low-floor buses would be introduced in the capital and 50 low-floor and 120 semi low-floor buses in Kochi.
