Better mileage per route adds to MSRTC coffers

NASHIK: The Nashik unit of the state transport corporation has scripted a success story of gaining a healthy financial status through the use of more buses on profitable routes, optimal use of available staff and including new destinations.
The transport body that was in the red has earned revenue of Rs 6.74 crore in December 2014 and emerged as the best functioning depot in the state-wide gradation of regions.The Nashik region of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has earned maximum points in earnings per kilometre clearly reflecting the rise in earnings as well as running more distance.
Though placed second to Pune region in terms of overall earnings, the Nashik region has earned 92.61% for its overall performance to become the only unit to be graded ‘good’ in the state. The total earnings of Rs 8 crore of the Pune region are higher than Nashik, which has improved on earnings along with rise in kilometres operated.
The Nashik unit has only recently brought 35 of the 44 depots in the region into positive. The improvement in the number of depots in positive is higher than last year, but there are still some areas that require more attention.
Running more kilometres
The primary source of income for MSRTC comes through plying more buses on more routes and limiting the buses on the routes that do not earn significant amounts. This was important considering that the corporation had to run buses to certain distances to break even. “We increased the number of kilometres travelled by adding more buses on busy routes or starting new services taking into consideration the demand by the passengers in last December. This led to the buses running more distance and the conductors were asked to earn more revenue through more passengers. We did not want any customer to take private mode of transport because of unavailability of the bus,” said Milind Band, regional manager.
No obligatory services hampered
The regional office called for punctual service and stressed on ensuring that the obligatory services were not affected. Generally buses to remote locations that are compulsory in nature are not cancelled. However, in some cases, either the buses left late or were cancelled in the day. “We ensured that the buses were punctual. As we introduced more services to increase the number of kilometres covered, we only ensured that the passengers got some alternative mode of transport,” the regional manager said.
Utilising crew members optimally
The depot managers would sanction leaves to more employees – drivers or conductors – than the quota allowed and this resulted in frequent shortage of staff and additional expenditure on the drivers and the conductors who worked overtime. “The first thing we decided was to cut down on the numbers of leaves granted to the staff. It was observed that the one of the depot managers granted leave to very high number of people despite clear orders. The MSRTC has decided to recover the expenses on overtime from his monthly salary to certain extent this time. Next time, no one will be spared,” Band said.
Stress on casual contract services
The MSRTC focused on the casual contract services in which the buses are given to the schools for picnics and marriage ceremonies. The state transport body sought streamlining of the buses for casual contracts by ensuring that they were run mostly on the weekends. “We asked the schools to carry out their picnics on Saturdays and Sundays so that special buses could be arranged for the children and at the same time the regular bus services was not hampered,” the officer added.
Introduction of Dhule-Jalgaon direct bus service
The introduction of direct non-stop buses between Dhule and Jalgaon resulted in adding up to the coffers. In addition, the non-stop buses between Nashik and Pune brought down travel time to 4.30 hours instead of usual 6 hours. Similar steps introduced on the Dhule and Jalgaon route resulted in lowering the time taken for travel between the two cities.