A Cochin KSRTC Lesson

Cochin, The Commercial Capital Of Kerala. Public transport in the city is largely dependent on private buses and the transportation system is a mess and continued to be so until about a year or so back. It is partly an attitude issue - people here don't use much of public transport - and prefer the convenience of their bikes and cars - and partly an issue of poor service as well. So, it was a vicious circle. Bad public transport, low usage and hence there was no reason to increase or improve the public transport services.

Its been more than six months that the state owned transport corporation has come up with the brand new Low Floor Volvo Buses in the city to give Kochites a good experience for their travel. From the beginning itself these buses got high patronage and become a star in Cochin. And in the last couple of months, KSRTC has taken a some more initiatives to ensure that Volvos are appreciated and accepted. This, in a city, that loves its bikes and cars is no mean feat.

Later on they came with 50 White beauties named "Thirukochi" to compete with more than 600 Private Buses in city. These buses also widely accepted by Kochites. First they flooded the Byepass route with Volvo buses and later on they started concentrating to the inner parts of Cochin like MG Road, Kaloor etc. Now the Cochin people don't mind paying for a Good Quality Transport.

There are a few lessons which KSRTC should learn from this. First, you remove waiting time and hence improve predictability of reaching work and back. Second, you promise a comfortable ride each way. Third, it is way better than a bike and sunburns and traffic. Fourth, there are no arguments with rickshaw drivers to endure. And Finally you don't want to experience the bad driving of Private buses and then again, it is a green way to work too. Once these issues are tackled there are no excuses left for not using public transport.

Most transport corporations fail because they don't give enough bus services for people to use them. If somebody has to wait 20 minutes for a bus to come their way, that is a long time in a commute time of possibly of an hour. And this is where it is a great story for Cochin. On some peak routes, there is a bus every few minutes. Eg: Some times you can see more than one or two private buses towards Aluva in a minute if you are standing in Edappally.

KSRTC's Cochin city services are turning in a profit, ridership is increasing and this gives rise to a positive vicious circle. More ridership means more money which in turns means better bus services. But the trick is to get to the tipping point and ride over it.