My Thoughts on the Low Floor Buses

Today I had my first trip on one of the KSRTC low floor AC buses plying in Ernakulum. Overall I’m very happy and impressed about it.  Nice comfortable seating, smooth ride, good environment and Class.

But, I hear that these buses are running currently at a loss due to lack of passengers. I think the reason for this is mainly because of lack of knowledge about the schedule of the buses. Apart from this, I also felt there are some other things that needed consideration.

First of all, while the cost is not prohibitively high, it would be better if it was reduced slightly. At present the rate is about thrice the private bus rate.

Second, the songs/radio they put in the buses. Today while travelling, the radio (not sure about the channel) was playing “old is gold” malayalam songs. Personally, I hate these and it took the fun out of the ride to an extent. But I’m not recommending putting fast paced pop music. Not everybody will like any type of music and the selection of language will also be conflicting. I think better would be to have a nice instrumental melody running in the background. Something that would not rudely interfere your conversations/thoughts while at the same time, would relax your mind*.

Next, there are lots of things in the bus about which the public/bus users need to be educated. Like for example, there were stop buttons on the hand supports but nobody knew their actual use. I also noticed plenty of people trying to use physical force to open/close the doors. Some, newspaper ads/posters in the bus/bus-stands could educate about these.

One thing that I peeved me was the internal LED display. It showed “Welcome to KSRTC” and “No smoking” signs. WTF?!! These static messages do not need a digital display and it is a big waste. Instead these displays can be used either to give some sort of information (like time/date or present/next bus stop, etc) or can even be used to generate a revenue (text ads).

Then about the schedule. There should be a small board at all the major stops showing the times at which these buses are scheduled to pass through. This matter alone would increase the passenger count to a great extent as presently, many people (including me)  wait for 15 minutes or so and then take the next available private bus. If there was a board telling me that the bus would arrive/stop at that stand in 20 minutes, people would certainly wait.

Another matter that would improve the passenger count is better bus stands. Higher class people and especially the ladies, are averse to standing in a bus stand waiting for a bus. This matter is worsened by the fact that most stands do not have benches/shade. It would be a great investment if the cochin corporation would install good facilities in the major stops with provision for small car parking near by and good seating/shade. The public (including the rich)  must be encouraged to use these public transport facilities and thus reduce the entry of large number of cars into city areas, thereby reducing pollution and congestion**.

Please use the comments section to give your opinions on these matters.

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* I feel the presence of music in a bus is to be highly encouraged. One thing I have noticed in private buses is that, in those buses with no songs/music, the tension in the bus is high and there is higher chance for shouting matches. Songs/music helps in greatly relaxing minds.

**Personally I believe that 4 and 2 wheelers must be restricted in the city limits. These must be minimised and instead better public transportation (more AC buses) should be in place. This can be ensured with city-entry tolls/fees. A city through which we can walk and enjoy the sites is truly a great city. In kochi, you can’t walk peacefully due to the noise, smoke and dust kicked up by the vehicles. Also, the city would be much more beautiful.