AJL has spent more than Rs23 lakh on trial runs in little over a month.
The Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited’s (AJL) plan to run free trial runs for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) has been hailed as a prudent marketing strategy. But the move, if agreed upon, will only exhaust more of public money. This has left the AJL in a catch-22 situation because neither can it stop the free trial runs, which is receiving a good response from the citizens, nor can it launch the BRTS owing to the incomplete work at the corridors along the 12.5 kilometre stretch.
The AJL has been running free BRT runs for the public for over a month now, which is only draining the civic body floated company of public money.
The situation is challenging more so because the money is being wasted at a time when the launch is delayed because of absent of any kind of income and incomplete work at the bus stations on the stretch running from RTO to Chandranagar.
Initially, August 15 was set as the tentative date for the official launch of the BRTS and the free trial runs were started on July 15 - a month before the expected date of launch. In the last one month and six days, the AJL has shelled out more than Rs23 lakh.
Now, looking at the BRTS launch excitement, the AJL can neither withdraw the free trials as it will send a negative message, nor can it start charging fare for the bus trips as it is not officially launched.
The only remaining option is to dole out around Rs70,000 a day for continuing the free commuting for around 16,000 passengers. “We are running 14 BRTS buses. On an average, one bus undertakes 8 trips of the 12.5-km stretch in a day for which the AJL pays for around 2000 kms to 2500 kms a day (Rs34 per km). But the present situation is such that we cannot even stop our trial runs, especially since it has got such a good response,” said a senior AJL official.
Considering the situation, the only way to cut additional expense is to expedite the BRT launch, which was scheduled for launch in October 2008. “It will be only after September first week that we can think of launching BRT. A lot of work is pending. Work at the corridor, bus stand and installation of ITES services in all the 19 bus stands and 14 buses on the first stretch is yet to be completed,” added another official.
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