বাংলায় পড়ুন
In this scorching heat, air conditioned buses are a relief as it has given daily commuters peace. Currently there are 400 AC buses that carries a whooping amount of 2 lakhs people on weekdays. A random survey among 20,000 commuters is under process of an ongoing study which was followed up from last September by IIT Kharagpur. From various parts of the city it is reported that 24% of those who own cars now regularly commute via AC buses.
Whereas 40% of the Kolkata’s four wheeler owners don’t consider bus a potential mode of transport, the majority 60% are both AC and Non-AC bus users.
Most all the respondents said they do it only for comfort and reliability in service. According to conservative estimates, an AC bus is equal to 30 cars in terms of number of passengers carried. The figures released by West Bengal Transport Corporation, Kolkata fleet of 400 AC buses has managed to draw 2 lakh passengers daily throughout May and June. Even in off seasons, the AC buses does not lose its service users, said a senior transport department officer. The air-port bound AC buses are a case in point. These buses are now travelling packed. Earlier almost 99% of airport bound commuters either used hired cars, cabs. The study says as the airport bound buses maintain better frequency and good travel time, which enable them to strike a high conversion rate.
Driving a car to a workplace has become unbearable experience due to high traffic and parking problems. Also extracting the car from parking is also a problem. Thus, commuting by a bus is a good option for the city.
