APSRTC plans to increase occupancy ratio by TIMs

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation is planning to increase occupancy ratio in its bus services by five percent by providing Ticket Issuing Machines to all conductors.After inauguration of TIMs at the Dilsukhnagar bus station on Saturday, S Nagaraju, APSRTC executive director (Operation and Maintenance) said they have spent Rs. 11 crore for setting up TIMs, to help conductors issue tickets quickly. He added the ticket machines will help conductors to issue around 100 tickets in just 15-20 minutes. "The conductors are being trained to work on increasing occupancy ratio by speaking softly to passengers as the machines will allow them issue tickets without hassles. If we increase the occupancy ratio by just five percent, we can not only increase our annual revenue by about Rs. 400 crore but also recover the expenditure on TIMs," Nagaraju said.Nalgonda, Shadnagar and Sangareddy bus stations are already using TIMs. So far, about 3,000 TIMs have been issued and another 11,000 machines have been ordered. "TIMs have been launched on a pilot basis in Nalgonda and initially conductors in long-distance buses were provided these machines. Now we will provide the ticket machines to ordinary buses as well. If things go as planned, TIMs will be issued to all conductors across the state by end of this year," Nagaraju said. He added they are looking to curb private travels by attracting more passengers through advertisements and seasonal offers on ticket reservations.The ticket machines can details like number of tickets issued and seat occupancy once they are connected to the computer. The machines will lessen manual work of conductors like punching tickets and help them to issue group tickets in one slip instead of separate tickets. Further, conductors need not write statistical return to verify the number of tickets issued and cash collected as all details can be displayed on the TIM screen with touch of a button.Executive director of Greater Hyderabad and Hyderabad zone A Purushotham was present.